Weird Logic . . . 5

Dog owners, rescuers and "responsible" breeders alike cry loudly against the practice of culling whether it be because the pups are the wrong color, have some undesirable cosmetic feature, the litter is deemed to big for the bitch to raise, or perhaps the breeder simply didn't think she could find homes for all the pups.

And then these same complainers turn around and vote in a government whose leaders say things like Nancy Pelosi did yesterday morning:

STEPHANOPOULOS: Hundreds of millions of dollars to expand family planning services. How is that stimulus?

PELOSI: Well, the family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now and part of what we do for children's health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs. One of those - one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So no apologies for that?

PELOSI: No apologies. No. we have to deal with the consequences of the downturn in our economy.

If the government is able to cull its population because it can't afford it, why does a dog breeder take any heat?

.

Weird Logic . . . 4

Time and time again, when people write about their puppymill rescues, and all the heart wrenchingly sad things their dog does that is proof of just how horrific a large breeding kennel is, they mention how Fifi didn’t even know how to walk on the grass.

Ms. X still remembers the first time she took a new kitten outside. The poor little thing was terrified, and absolutely hated the grass. It high stepped literally one foot at a time. Such a sad, pathetic thing you’ve never seen.

Oh wait. Scratch that. That was a cat. It is in fact the sign of well-balanced psyche (and responsible owner/breeder) when a cat goes it’s whole life terrorized by the green grass and crackling leaves.

Weird Logic . . . 3

(This blog originally posted on 6/14/2005.)

Did you know that "responsible" breeding is supposed to be problematic, troublesome and distressing?

No Kidding!

An experienced breeder described her philosophy for promoting natural birth (whelping) and mothering with minimal human interference. IMMEDIATELY, "responsible" breeders with more sanctimony than intelligence, dissed the experienced breeder for "making breeding sound easy".

I'd laugh if it wasn't so sad. Are we, or are we not, talking about dogs? Beasts that have been reproducing for thousands of years without human help?

Human help, if provided, should only optimize what nature has laid down over centuries of natural selection. If something more is required, then we are undoing what thousands of centuries time has perfected.

Weird Logic ... 2

(This blog originally posted on 8/22/2005).


I don't get "show" breeders. Almost every show breeder website says they breed to "better the breed", and they breed for health, for structure, for temperment, etc.

But for every single one of them, they all start their breedings with the same choice. And that choice has Nothing to do with health, temperment, structure. That first choice is only this: "Does the dog have a piece of paper registering him with my favorite organization?"

Weird Logic . . . 1

(This blog originally posted on 6/15/2005.)

Jane accepts crossbreeding for sled dogs. Tom thinks it's an acceptable practice to get a good hunting dog. Mary's Malinois has no paper pedigree, but is great at protection work so she breeds it.

Elizabeth thinks crossbreeding is irresponsible, but she'll look the other way for Jane, Tom and Mary.

One thing they all agree on is that most dogs today are pets. Not working dogs. So most dogs today should be bred for that calm, easy going, non-aggressive temperment that pet owners
need.

But not one of them, Jane, Tom, Mary or especially Elizabeth, would EVER accept crossbreeding to produce a star in that most important job - being a pet with an calm, easy going, stable, friendly temperment.