PETA and Stuff, to be continued......

"Danger, Will Robinson!" - controversial stuff here to follow! Hey, it's my blog and I can say whatever the hell I want. You have the right to submit your comments in support or contention hereof, and I reserve the right to delete them if they aren't rational.

About a week ago I watched HBO's documentary on PETA and Ingrid Neukirk, "I Am An Animal". I was a bit surprised to find myself agreeing with almost all of the issues and content presented. For example, I do not approve of animal torture or suffering, fur for fur's sake, or the neglect and abuse of animals. I do however eat animals and and wear leather. Most people do eat animals by the way, and I plan to continue to do so. It makes sense to me that if we're going to eat them, we should also utilize all of the animal's by products, such as their hides for leather. Organs for dog food. Hooves for chew toys. I digress!

Today, I went to PETA's website to see where they truly stand on issues, since the documentary didn't really delve into it. Ah, therein lies the meat of the matter and one particular point of contention that I would like to bring up. This is a direct quote from PETA's website:

"All breeders fuel the companion animal overpopulation crisis, and every time someone purchases a puppy or a kitten instead of adopting from an animal shelter, homeless animals lose their chance of finding a home—and will be euthanized."

Okay....so, what if you don't want an unaltered Pitbull/Rottweiler mix? Dogs are not inanimate objects and are as different each one from another as people are. Every dog has it's own personality, character traits and a unique set of behavior issues, positive or not. If you get a dog directly from a shelter, you simply don't know what you are getting. People who are willing to take that chance, I applaud their decision and commitment, especially so when they are able to spend whatever time and money it takes to train the dog to fit with a new family if there are issues. And there often are.

PETA assumes that if there were not dogs available from breeders, that people would then go to a shelter to get Fido. No difference is realized between a Papillion puppy that has been health tested, well cared for and properly socialized; and a 3 year old unaltered male Pitbull found roaming the streets. Which one would you rather have around your children or other animal companions? PETA makes no differentiation between the two extremes. A dog, is a dog, is a dog. PETA's assertion that every dog bought from a breeder means that one will die in a shelter is absolutely asinine and ranks as one of the stupidest things I've ever heard.

For the record, I checked the Tacoma WA Humane Society's available dog listing today. 59 dogs available: 11 are Pitbulls or Pitbull mix, 20 are unaltered.

I wonder how many of those dogs in the shelter today came from a sire and dam that were health tested (eyes, hearts, hips, thyroid, genetics, etc.) by their breeder to determine known genetic or physical problems within their breed? How many were from parents that were selectively bred for good temperaments? How many were health tested themselves by their breeders before they were sold and allowed to be kept unaltered? Let's face it -- Every dog that is not a wild dog came from someone who allowed it to breed. Ummm, what do you call those people...? Oh yeah, BREEDERS!

If everyone did as PETA wished and eliminated breeders, period, then within a couple of generations there will be NO MORE dogs.

It seems to me that PETA would be doing a much better service in their noble goal of reducing the number of dogs euthanized if they were to provide EDUCATION about the difference between GOOD and BAD breeders. Such as, how to select an animal for health, temperament, socialization, in the first place. If puppy mills and disreputable breeders had no market (aka the ignorant public at large) then many of those dogs would not be in shelters facing euthanasia today.

I originally meant to post about breed rescues too, but this is getting too long. More, later.......