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We are now already a few months past finding a loving home for our foster dog, an experience Devorah and I will most certainly never forget.
And an adventure that taught me countless life lessons, some of which I’m still trying to wrap my head around. One element of the learning experience is seeing a little too far behind the scenes of how difficult the world of saving dogs can be. And learning about one element that I never knew I could possibly be this angry about: The breeder.
So You Chose a Breeder?
If you want to adopt a dog, there are a handful of choices. Of course there are some people who just grab a stray off the street and give it a home, or they take from a litter of a friend or neighbor. But the two most common ways to adopt a dog are from a shelter or from a breeder. And today I want to speak about why I strongly encourage the former, and why I emphatically lambast the latter choice.
I’m sure there exist in this world moral dog breeders with good intentions. And there are some reasons why one might actually require a breeder. For example, it would be nearly impossible to get a hypoallergenic dog from a shelter. So for some a breeder could be their only choice.
But for the average person, here are four details why I not only think breeders should be avoided, but should actually be banned in some countries.
1) You’re Leaving a Dog Behind
The shelters are full. Overflowing, in fact. There are literally thousands of dogs out there who would love to be a part of your home. Why would new ones need to be created?
Every time someone wants a dog but chooses a breeder over a rescue dog, they are essentially condemning another dog to a life of living in a cage, rolling around miserable in its own filth, barely ever playing or experiencing sunlight.
Adopting a dog is a sacred bond. You are pledging to love and care for another creature. But it’s so much more than that!
There’s an ecosystem of loving animals who want nothing more in this life than your hugs and cuddles. When you adopt a rescue dog, you have a positive impact on that ecosystem. You’re creating a caring bond and opening up a cage for another wonderful animal to get prepared for his forever home.
But when you buy from a breeder, you just encourage them to breed more. And those thousands of amazing would-be pets simply get left behind. It’s not just ignoring the problem. It’s making the problem worse! If everyone who adopted went to shelters exclusively, we could all work together to make things better.
Instead we’re contributing to the real problem.
2) Doggie Death Sentence
When you get a dog from a breeder, you are killing a dog from a shelter. I’m sorry, but it’s the truth.
There are almost zero no-kill shelters in this entire country. And there are new dogs filling up the uber-limited spaces every single day. There are just so many stray dogs roaming around the country, and too many people who give up their dogs for all sorts of reasons. What does their brief existence look like? They are captured, chucked in a shelter, they wallow in their waste for a few days without any takers, then they are put down, their lifeless body is discarded, and a would-be best friend is forgotten forever.
All of this is happening while someone is walking away from a breeder with their purebred pooch, completely ignoring our dog friend who’s no longer with us.
I know we can’t think like this all day, every day. We get an expensive coffee, knowing full well there’s someone in the world who could use those $5 to not starve today. We buy a tshirt or an iPod knowing somewhere there’s likely an underage child who slaved to make it come into existence. And no, it’s not great. It’s quite imperfect.
But we simply haven’t figured out how to live in a world where we think this way all the time. It’s too hard on the mind and soul. It really is.
Also, those situations are very foreign. We don’t know the people we’re indirectly harming. We don’t see cause and effect.
But I think this is much different. I truly believe you are a part of the solution if you walk on past the breeder and head over to the shelter. That dog you give a home to is the one you saved. You see it with your own eyes. You feel the greatness of what you’ve done.
And maybe, just maybe, if enough people make that decision, the breeders will be forced to shut down their businesses and hopefully go do something that actually makes the world better.
3) Adopting is Always Hard
Now, my next issue isn’t directly about breeders. It’s about confused adopters.
Yes, it’s true that many rescue dogs come with baggage. Our dog, for example, has terrible separation anxiety. And despite our massive love for him, it doesn’t change that this is a very difficult and daily challenge for us.
But what do you get when you adopt from a breeder?
You get a dog!
Does that mean you get a fully-trained pooch, without any of the common issues that face dogs? Not in the slightest! Dogs from breeders pee and poop and get sick and get glass in their paws and chew up throw pillows and bark and growl and nip and hump legs and all the other habits one needs to work on. They don’t come magically trained, ready to tackle all of life’s tasks without any effort on behalf of the new owner.
If you adopt a dog, you are taking on a massive responsibility. You need to know this before the dog ever comes into your home. If you’re not ready for the challenges of training and raising a dog, it’s not that you shouldn’t adopt from a shelter. You shouldn’t adopt at all! That little bundle of joy needs to be in a home that can properly take care of him. If your home is not that, you need to figure this out in advance, and forego having a dog in your home.
If there is even a small chance that normal issues will cause you to abandon your dog, you should not adopt a dog. You are not making things better. You are a part of the problem, teaming up with breeders to make the world a worse place.
4) Breeders are Downright Evil
Finally, it’s easy to perceive breeders as being among the “good guys”. After all, they’re selling adorable puppies. They might even treat those puppies well, and legitimately care for them prior to the sale.
Yet, to those in the know, they have an abysmal reputation.
One of my background shows is the comical and quirky DC Legend’s of Tomorrow. In season 5, episode 10, one of the characters rescues a dog from hell (I said the show was quirky), and this is an actual dialogue from the show:
Ava: Oh my God, you adopted Son of Sam’s demon dog!
Gary: At least I didn’t buy from a breeder.
Yup, they said it. And I laughed out loud.
Breeders are creating custom dogs for sale, while thousands of other dogs are sitting miserable and terrified in shelters with no one coming to save them. And they’re being put down by the thousands to make room for more!
They don’t have to breed dogs. They just know that they could make money doing so. And no one is standing in their way, since what they’re doing is perfectly legal.
When you buy from a breeder, you are legitimizing what they’re doing. And you are contributing to the problem. Their offices and homes should be empty of customers. Unless new laws are created (good luck), this is the only way to put an end to this.
Otherwise you are doing something worse than saving Son of Sam’s demon dog. You are not helping. You are making things worse.
If you want a dog (and no one in your home has allergies), please don’t go to a breeder. Be part of the solution and give a rescue dog a chance. Make the world a better place, one loving pooch at a time.
