[ SHOWGSD-L ] serious things to think about.......
- From: Peggy <pmick12@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Showgsd-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 17:40:29 -0400
crossposted with permission...and you all have permission to do the same:
Sharyn Hutchens <timbrebluewhippets@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
CA AB 1634 has passed out of committee. It will now go on to the
appropriations committee. If it passes there, the next stop is the full
assembly for a vote into law. If it becomes law, there will effectively
be no more breeding in California. The people who believe we should
"work with" the fanatics who want these bills passed should read The
Future of Dogs at http://www.pet-law.com/future/forward.html It can also
be ordered as a booklet from that site. These laws are not intended to
lower euthanasia rate -- the DOG euthanasia rate has been dropping
steadily for 30 years. They are intended to STOP BREEDING ALTOGETHER.
Unless you understand the animal rights agenda, you will never be
able to protect your rights. When California develops a dog deficit,
which is already happening in many parts of the state, when people
cannot buy a quality purebred, guess where the puppies will come from?
Over the border, as many are now. They are raised in uninspected, often
filthy places that make the breeders we call "puppy mills" look like
doggie heaven. Do you think the people who are already supplying puppies
illegally ("Meet me in the Walmart parking lot at midnight. Bring
cash.") are going to stop doing it when their market doubles and
triples? Since many of those pups will end up in shelters due to health
or temperament problems, the ARS will be back in three or four years
saying "The law isn't tough enough." And those Responsible Breeders who
decided that since the laws would only apply to those Irresponsible
Breeders, we should work on a compromise will find themselves caught in
the web next. And guess who will NOT be there to help us? Remember those
commercial breeders we threw to the lions?? The statistics cited as
"horrific euthanasia rates" include: 1) Cats -- there is still a cat
overpopulation problem, largely due to feral & "barn cats." Forcing
purebred cat breeders to spay and neuter will not touch this problem.
How many "excess euthanasias" do you think there are of, say,
Abyssinians or even Persians? How many people with purebred cats allow
them to roam and breed freely? Purebred cats account for one percent of
the overall cat population. 2) Dogs brought to shelters FOR euthanasia.
Many people cannot afford to have a vet euthanize an old, even very much
loved, pet. Their only choice may be shelter euthanasia, where the
perhaps 16-year-old chihuhahua is counted as "ANOTHER UNWANTED PET!!!!"
3) Dogs with no chance of being safe, happy or healthy pets. It's not
true that there are no bad dogs, just bad owners. Just like some people,
some dogs are just plain wired wrong. Yes, unfortunately they may bounce
through a few homes before arriving at the shelter, but they too -- even
though no one could call them pets -- are counted in the "SKYROCKETING
EUTHANASIA NUMBERS."
If California goes mandatory spay/neuter, we will lose possibly ten
percent of the gene pool of many of our breeds. What will that do for
purebred dogs? Folks, this is war. We are county by county and now state
by state losing our right to not only breed, but to even OWN more than
two or three dogs. Compromising is not the answer. Education is. I am
amazed at the number of inquiries I get from people who already KNOW not
to buy from pet shops, know what questions to ask, are prepared to pay a
fair price for a good puppy. It will not help us to win the education
war if we have meanwhile been legislated out of existence. There will
always be shelter euthanasia and it will always include some dogs that
could have been good pets. There will also always be child abuse,
homelessness, and cancer. It happens. Life is not perfect. Passing laws
to wipe out breeding as an approach to shelter euthanasia is like
limiting couples to two children to prevent child abuse. The issues are
not even related except that they both involve children. We do not have
a pet overpopulation problem. We have a pet retention problem, and the
answer to that is education. Help people KEEP their pets by offering
support and being open to questions. Many people who turn their dogs in
to shelters do so because they don't understand the basics of
housetraining or dog behavior. And yes, they may turn in their next dog
too unless there is intervention. When your neighbor gripes about her
Labradoodle peeing in the house, don't roll your eyes and preach about
the folly of "designer dogs." Give her a copy of the housetraining paper
you send home with puppies. Talk to her about what exactly is going on.
Is he marking? Is he confined for too long and just can't hold it? Has
he just never been housetrained? As breeders, we have a responsibility
to address the owner turn-in part of euthanasia, but it is not fulfilled
by cutting back on breeding or supporting laws against "those other
guys." It is hands-on, one-on-one education provided in a friendly --
not condescending and bossy, which we all excel in! -- manner. We need
to be making friends in the community and doing something to fight the
"snobby dog breeder" image we've built over the years.
Okay. Enough. Next time you see something about AB1634 or another bill
in someone else's community, find out what you can do to help. Today
it's California. Tomorrow it will be your state. You may not think you
have time to help. You'd better make time or no one will be left to help
you when it's your turn.
-- Sharyn
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