Breeding Dogs

[horsejody]

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No, they are doing the dirty work. They did not create the problem, it's up to them to deal with it though. If they didn't, the streets would be full of starving feral dogs. It's so much easier to take an animal to the shelter and convince yourself that it will find a nice home in the country than it is to have an unwanted animal humanely euthanised. There are only so many homes and there is an endless stream of unwanted dogs. If a person cannot afford an $85 adoption fee (for a sterilised, vaccinated dog), they sure as hell can't afford to keep the animal.

$85!? LOL Not the shelters around here..try $350... or something like that(i think)...let me get a link...
adults $374....puppies $450... not $85 ..

and these are mostly mixed breeds.. with some pure breeds also, of course!

http://www.dpvhs.org/adopt/fees_dogs.php

Here is the list of fees at our local hunane society:
HIPP (Hi Profile Pets)- $150 and up
HIPP pets are those dogs and cats who are in high demand, may be purebred and whose fee at a pet store might be $600 or more. HIPP pets have been given full exams by our veterinarians. Their higher fees go to help other pets who wait for months to find homes.
Dogs- $135
Puppies- $155
Cats- $80
Kittens- $120
Mice- $1
Rats, Hamsters, Gerbils, Doves, Small Turtles, Finches- $5
Guinea Pigs- $10
Parakeets, Box Turtles, Canaries- $15
Lovebirds, Rabbits, Cockatiels- $25
Ferrets, Chinchillas- $35
Conures, Quaker Parrots- $75
6/60- Free
Seniors 60 years of age can adopt any cat 6 years of age or older for FREE


It may seem like a lot at first, but if you think about it, if you can't afford the adoption fee, you really can't afford the pet. After all, it includes the spay/neuter, the shots and a heartworm test. Even if you pick up a free dog from the guy down the road, it's never really free. If you do the right thing and have the dog properly vaccinated, etc., you're going to probably spend close to that anyway. If you don't intend to have the dog spayed/neutered, vaccinated, etc., then you're part of the problem and we're right back to you shouldn't have the dog anyway.

 

[RabbitMage]

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I'm going to have to disagree with this as well. During the 'high season' my local shelter euths a lot. Pits, Labs, Shepherds, Chis. If they get in a litter of puppies or kittens that are a week or two too young to get adopted, they probably get euthanized, too. If they have even a minor problem like a URI that could be fixed with cheap antibiotics, they get euthed because there's no time or space or resources to help them. Sometimes there's a foster family to help out, but not always.

This is a listing of 'small' dogs in my area: http://www.petfinder.com/search/search.cgi?pet.Animal=Dog&pet.Breed=&pet.Age=&pet.Size=S&pet.Sex=&location=fresno%2C+ca

This is a listing of puppies in my area: http://www.petfinder.com/search/search.cgi?pet.Animal=Dog&pet.Breed=&pet.Age=baby&pet.Size=&pet.Sex=&location=fresno%2C+ca

These aren't comprehensive listings, just what the shelters and rescues have had time to put online. But there's certainly no shortage here.

 

[Cara]

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Here are a few of those unacceptable pet animals that 'should have been euthanized'. There only fault was being homeless, and incidentally two made Search and Rescue dogs.

Scarlett, stray. She was a sweet, kind, gentle dog. Adoption fee $40:

Ladybird, the puppymill cast off. She had heartworms which we treated. She had a great personality. Adoption fee -$5, they paid me to take her:

Kodiak, part of an unwanted litter of mutts. Dreaded unadoptable 'big black dog', the best pet and the best SAR dog i'll ever have. Adoption fee $34:

Ruger, stray. Great natural hunter, wonderful pet. I adopted him the day before he was going to be euthanised. Adoption fee $15:

Sadie, dumped but now a happy family pet:

The shelters are brimming with great dogs. No dog will be perfect from day one (other than Kodiak), wherever it comes from.

 

[RabbitMage]

Ooh, can I play? This is my "unadoptable, should have been euthed" dog that I got from a county shelter for $90. He makes me laugh, he guards the chickens, and puts up with just about everything I ask him to.

 

[whitecra]

We have breed Boston Terriers and I haven't noticed that there is any difference in an intact or not. Our female had 2 litters before we had her fixed. She isn't any different now then she was before. I do miss the puppies.
Chris

 

[chinbunny]

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Keeping a rabbit in a cage not much larger than it's body isn't all that different from chaining a dog, just like it's not that different from keeping a goldfish in a bowl, or different from making a horse live in a 12x12 stall without exercise. Will the animal live? Yes, for a while at least. Is it an adequate way to house them, regardless of legality? No. It is likely they're going to suffer negative effects, being housed that way? Yes.

I don't feel that any home is better than no home. I think adopting/selling an animal that you've put time and money and care into and putting it into a situation where it's going to end up neglected or malnourished or mistreated or turned loose isn't an acceptable situation. This is also why I personally do not make a habit of selling rabbits to pet homes. There just aren't enough 'good ones' out there.

Thats your opinion. Like it or not its an acceptable way of keeping a dog. If shelters and rescues got rid of their rediculous rules, then they would find more homes for more dogs. my dogs were on at least 15 feet, and had the yard pretty much to themselves. The law requires the minimum to be at least six feet. Which still gives the dog plenty of room to move around. Dogs=/= rabbits. The only they suffer negative effects is if they are tied on a shorter chain, and left without food, water, and shelter. none of my dogs ever had ill effects from it. Neither has anyone else that I know of. In fact there is a rescue worker that lives down the road from me that keeps her dog agressive husky chained up outside 24/7, away from the dogs she rehomes from a local rescue. I know because the neighbors told me. And I had seen it out there too. So obviously, chaining is not that bad.

Yes a home is better then any home, as long as the animal is happy and healthy, and cared for by law. Just because someone choses to keep their dog outside does not always = creulty, neglect, and abuse. Most kept like that are not abused. Its better then rotting away in a cage, or wastefully killed at the shelter.

I have to agree that those are some pretty high prices to pay for a dog.

 

[lishah2000]

My heart dog Bingo. The dog who has taught me more about dogs than I ever thought possible.

 

[chinbunny]

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It's a money game. They are dealers hiding under the rescue label. Then they try to charge $700+ to sell dogs, and whine when they can't.

Not all rescues are like that, but some are. There is one WONDERFUL rescue in this area that deals only with senior dogs. They do amazing things rehoming animals that would have been destroyed due to health issues. They only take purebreds or small cute dogs though. But they are still great because they don't overcharge and do find homes for animals that the shelters would have destroyed due to health issues. There are other rescues that are breed specific, and are in it for the money. They buy dogs at $50 from the pound/shelters, and resell at $500+. I think they do it just to keep the prices high in their breeds. But that is just my opinion.

I would never pay $350 for a mutt dog.

Its good that they are charging them to get the dogs from the pound, because most rescues get them from them for free. Then turn around and charge an arm and a leg for them after AC has already put money into them.

I know some rabbit rescues up here charge around $100-$150 or more for their rabbits. Might cover the spay and neuter fee, but still, thats insane.

 

[horsejody]

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That's not true. At least not in our area. I can site at least 2 examples. My daughter adopted a purebred Scottish Terrier from the pound near her home. He had been there a few days when I found him on www.petfinder.org. DD went down to look at him. The shelter staff told her that if he wasn't adopted within the next day or so, the Scotty rescue was coming to get him. He was not offerred to the rescue before he was offerred to the general public. The rescue was being used as a resource to take him as a last resort so he wouldn't be euthanized to make room for other dogs. My second example is the pound in Omaha. I look at their website frequently. I often see Boston Terriers listed for adoption. There is a large Boston Terrier rescue group in the area. They do not snatch these dogs up. However, they do rescue many that are not adopted by the public. The dogs are offerred to the general population first. Making a blanket statement that almost all dog rescues are "dog flippers" is a bit irresponsible. Please list your specific examples to back your statement up.

 

[chinbunny]

This is what our animal shelter picks up. Mostly strays. All the dogs go to the website when they get them. They only have less then ten at any given week. They keep for an extended period of time because cover two counties, and get paid to keep them in the kennels. $10 a dog per day. Most of the dogs seem to come from the 'other county.' They keep them for seven days or more. My neighbor had to pay $90 just to get her dog back from them. They made her pay a boarding fee while they were getting paid by the counties to keep him. There are a couple of dog rescues that take their dogs from them. One runs a prison program. But they are also impossible to adopt a dog from. They refuse to adopt to anyone with intact animals. Which doesn't make any sense.

http://www.co.branch.mi.us/animal.taf

The two 'purebreds' on there don't look like purebred dogs either.