In Defense Of Dog Breeders

anne · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 12:38 pm Post subject: In Defense Of Dog Breeders

In Defense of Dog Breeders

How Animal Rights Has Twisted Our Language

by JOHN YATES
American Sporting Dog Alliance
http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org

"You're a dog breeder!!!!!!!!!!!!"

In today's world, that is a very loaded statement. It's more like an
accusation.

"I told the television news reporter that I breed dogs," a friend
from Dallas told me recently. "He looked at me like he thought I was
a harlot."

Dog owners have allowed the animal rights movement to redefine our
language in order to paint everything we do in the worst possible
light. If we say that we breed dogs, the looks we get ask us if we
own a "puppy mill" or if we are a "backyard breeder."

If we reply that we are a "hobby breeder," someone immediately asks
how we can consider living creatures a hobby. Some of us try the
word "fancier." We fool no one.

The most pathetic response to the question is when we call
ourselves "responsible breeders." Responsible to whom? Who
defines "responsible" and "irresponsible?" Some bureaucrat? A
politician? Animal rights cretins who say there is no such thing as
a responsible breeder? Animal rights fanatics would rather kill all
animals than see someone love them. In fact, that's their plan.

If we say we are not breeders, it makes us "pet hoarders." We are
tarred as mentally ill people in need of psychotherapy.

The entire language about dog ownership has been hijacked by the
rhetoric of the animal rights movement.

The worst part is that we have allowed it to happen. We are too
fearful and wimpy to stand up for ourselves. We keep searching for
inoffensive euphemisms to describe what we do, so that we don't open
ourselves up to attack.

By doing that, however, we have engineered our own demise.

The animal rights movement will not go away. Its agenda is to
destroy our right to own or raise animals. Animal rights groups have
declared war on all animal ownership, and they won't stop until they
either win or we finally have the courage to stand up and defeat
them.

They have not taken that kind of power over us. We have given it
away. We have surrendered our beliefs to the enemy.

We apologize for what we do. We make weak excuses for things like
animal shelter euthanasia, accidental matings, dog fighting and
dangerous dogs. We take at least part of the responsibility for
these problems onto our own shoulders, when in truth we have no
responsibility at all for creating them.

None whatsoever!

I am sick and tired of watching dog owners constantly apologize and
grovel, and allowing themselves to be put on the defensive.

Enough! It's time to stop sniveling about who we are and what we do.

Let me state clearly and for the record: I am a dog breeder. I breed
dogs. I raise puppies. I like it. I'm very proud of it.

If you don't like it, you are free to take a flying leap. I don't
care what you think of me or what I do.

I raise two or three litters of English setter puppies a year. I
wish I could raise more puppies, but can't figure out how to do it
without driving myself into bankruptcy.

My dogs work for a living, just like I do. They have to be good at
their jobs, just like I do. If they aren't good at their jobs, I
don't keep them and I certainly don't breed them.

They are hunting dogs, and they have to be able to perform to a very
demanding standard of excellence to be worthy of breeding. They have
to meet the exacting standard of championship-quality performance in
the toughest competition.

They are professional athletes.

Most of them don't make the cut. Those dogs make wonderful hunting
companions or family members.

I have never had a dog spayed or neutered, except for medical
reasons, and I don't intend to start now. If a dog is good enough
for me to keep, it is good enough to breed.

Nor have I ever sold a puppy on a spay/neuter contract. With
performance dogs, it takes two or three years to know what you have.
There is no way that anyone can know the full potential or
worthiness of a young puppy. I hope every puppy that I sell will
become a great one that is worthy of being bred.

I do not feel bad (and certainly do not feel guilty) if someone
decides to breed a dog from my kennel that I did not choose to keep
for myself when it was a puppy. It still will be a very nice dog,
and I have worked very hard on my breeding program for 35 years to
assure that very high quality genetics will be passed along and
concentrated in any dog that I sell.

On occasion, I have a puppy that has a serious flaw. I don't sell
those puppies, even though they would make many people very happy. I
give them away free to good homes, and the definition of a good home
is mine because it's my puppy. I own it. You don't.

My responsibility is to the puppy. It is not to you, and it's not to
some gelatinous glob called "society." I consider myself to be
personally responsible for every puppy I raise, from birth until the
day it dies. It always has a home in my kennel, if its new owner
can't keep it or no longer wants it.

That's a contract written in blood between the puppy and me. It's a
contract written with a handshake with the puppy's new owner.

I laugh cynically when someone from the Humane Society of the United
States or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ask if I am a
responsible breeder. HSUS and PETA are two of the most vicious,
bloodthirsty and dishonest snake pits on Earth. Their moral
credibility is a negative number. PETA butchers more than 90-percent
of the animals it "rescues" every year, and HSUS supports programs
and policies that result in the needless deaths of hundreds of
thousands of animals every year.

By now, I assume that I have pushed all of the buttons of the animal
rights crazies. I can hear them snort and see their pincurls
flapping in indignation. It makes my day.

Can't you hear them, too? They are calling me an exploiter of
animals. They are saying that I ruthlessly cull and manipulate the
genetics of my dogs. They saying that I make the exploited poor
beasts work for a living and live up to impossible standards. They
will say that I do this to feed and gratify my own fat ego. They
will say that I sell them for money and exploit them for personal
gain. Then, of course, they will say that I use them to viciously
hunt innocent wild animals.

Terrible, terrible me! My mother should have a son like this! She
was such a nice woman.

Well, I plead guilty to all of the charges. Know what else? I don't
feel guilty, not even a little bit. I do it. I like it. I feel good
about it.

Now I will speak in my own defense – as a dog breeder.

I happen to love dogs. I love being around them. I love working with
them. I love watching a puppy grow up and discover its potential. I
love having the privilege of experiencing a truly great dog in its
prime. I love sharing supper with my dogs, wrestling with puppies,
and sacking out with them on the couch. I lose sleep when they get
sick, and work myself unmercifully to care for them. I spend almost
all of the money I have on them, and some money that I don't have.
My heart breaks when they grow old and die. I have a dozen lifetimes
worth of beautiful memories.

What do the animal rights freaks have? They have their ideology.
They look in the mirror and feel smug and self-righteous, as if God
has personally anointed them to protect animals from the likes of me.

What they have is nothing at all. Utter sterility. A world devoid of
life and love.

They can keep it.

My life is filled with love and joy and beauty, and I owe most of it
to my dogs. They have helped to keep me sane when sanity was not a
given. They have given me courage on the days when all I wanted to
do was lie down and quit. They have given me strength to endure on
the days when all I wanted to do is run away and hide.

I owe them my life.

The animal rights folks are right. I ruthlessly cull and manipulate
genetics. To make the cut, my breeding dogs have had to live up to
the most exacting possible standards and pass the most strenuous
tests.

I am very proud of doing that.

The result is that the vast majority of people who buy a puppy from
me love it. When I sell a puppy, chances are that it has found a
home for the rest of its life. The puppy will have a great chance of
leading a wonderful life. I produce puppies that make people happy
to own them and want to keep them. That's my job as a breeder.

I have done this through rigorous selection. My puppies today are
the result of 35 years of my stubborn insistence about never
breeding a dog that does not have a wonderful disposition, perfect
conformation, great intelligence, exceptional natural ability,
breathtaking style and that mysterious ingredient called genius.

Every puppy born in my kennel has six or eight or 10 generations of
my own dogs in its pedigree. All of those ancestors possess a high
level of each of those desirable traits. I have raised, trained and
grown old with every dog listed in several generations of each
puppy's pedigree.

Simply put, my puppies today are a lot nicer than my puppies of 35
years ago. Today, there is a much higher percentage of good ones, a
much lower percentage of deficient ones, a much higher average of
good qualities, and a much higher percentage of true greatness
emerging from my kennel today.

That's what it means to be a breeder.

Does that feed my ego? Yep. I like having my ego stroked. Don't you?
If you don't, you are in very deep trouble as a human being.

But I'll tell you what else it does. It makes for happier dogs. It
makes for dogs that lead better lives, find permanent families and
homes, and get to experience love in many forms.

It also makes for healthier dogs. Generation after generation of
perfect functional conformation means that the dogs are less likely
to get injured, wear out or develop arthritis. Many generations of
selection for vigor, toughness and good health means that they are
able to laugh at the extremes of climate, weather and terrain.

I also have virtually eliminated genetic health problems from my
strain of dogs. For example, hip dysplasia is the most common
genetic problem in English setters, afflicting a reported four-
percent of the breed. In the past 20 years, I have had only two
questionable hip x-rays, which both would be rated "fair" by the
Orthopedic Foundation of America (OFA). The last one was 10 years
ago.

Yes, I am very proud of being a breeder. I did that.

I am proud, too, that I am producing dogs that are so intelligent
that it's scary, so loyal that they can be your complete partner in
the field while also possessing the extreme independence needed to
do their job well, so loving that you want them with you every
second of the day, so bold and brazen that nothing bothers them, and
just plain drop-dead gorgeous to boot.

They make me smile a lot. I think I make them smile, too.

But, the animal rights whackos say I am doing it for the money. They
accuse me of exploiting animals for profit.

Yep. Every chance I get. I am very happy when I am able to sell a
puppy for cold, hard cash. It makes me feel good.

It makes me feel good because it shows me that someone appreciates
the work I am doing. It makes me feel good because I have earned it,
and earned it honestly.

My only regret is that I have not made more money as a breeder. With
all of the sacrifices I have made and the hard work I have done, I
should be rolling in money.

Alas, I am not.

It has been years since I actually have made money on a litter of
puppies. Usually, I lose my shirt.

For every puppy I sell, there is another one that I keep to
evaluate, and a couple of other ones that I am keeping for two or
three years to evaluate for their worthiness to breed. Then there
are dogs that are in competition, and that costs bushels of money,
not to mention old dogs that are retired and have a home here until
they die of old age. Almost a third of the dogs in my kennel are
elderly and retired, and it takes a lot of money to care for them.

It takes money for dog food, supplies, veterinary bills, kennel
licenses, repairs, vehicle use for training and field trials,
advertising, internet, phone bills, and four pairs of good boots a
year. It takes money. Lots of money. Bundles of money.

Oh, Lord, please help me to sell some more puppies!

Besides, what's wrong with making money? It is a rather fundamental
American value. Making money is something to be proud of, as long as
it's done honestly.

Even animal rights bozos have to eat. Someone has to make money to
stuff veggies down their gullets, and organic veggies are rather
pricey. Most working folks can't afford them.

I also can't help but notice that most animal rights activists over
the age of 30 drive pretty fancy cars (we are talking about the
Beamer set, folks), live in rather fancy houses and dress very well
indeed. I can't help but notice that many of the leaders of animal
rights groups have pretty cushy gigs, with high-end six-digit
salaries, fancy offices, and all the perks.

I guess they are saying that it's ok for them to make money by the
truckload, even if making money turns dog breeders into immoral
greed bags. There is no one in America who exploits dogs for as much
money as the paid leaders of animal rights groups. Their fat
salaries depend on having animal issues to exploit. If there were no
animals for them to exploit, they would have to get a real job.

It's a rather perplexing dual standard, don't you think?

Well, maybe it's not perplexing after all. The only thing perplexing
about hypocrisy is that so many people can't see through it.

My next sin is making my dogs work for a living. The animal rights
people try to paint a picture of whipping dogs beyond endurance,
exploiting them, creating misery and causing unhappiness. The poor,
downtrodden, huddled masses. You know the tune.

Only problem is, my dogs don't agree. They love to work. They love
their jobs. The only time they are sad is when it is not their turn
to work. For my dogs, working is sheer joy and passion! They love
every second of it.

What animal rights groups live for is creating imaginary victims.
Helping victims makes some people feel better about themselves and,
of course, it helps them to part with their money so that animal
rights leaders can live high on the hog. Oops. I mean high on the
carrot. How callous of me. I guess I'm just not a sensitive kind of
guy.

Back to the exploited masses of bird dogs. Try an experiment
sometime. Read an animal rights essay, and substitute the
word "proletariat" for the word "animal." You will find that animal
rights philosophy actually is pure and straightforward Marxian
doctrine.

I guess my dogs are not natural Marxists. They love their jobs. They
are excited about their jobs. Their jobs make them very happy.

Animal rights people can't seem to grasp that people can feel that
way about their work, too. It's how I feel about the very hard work
of being a dog breeder. It makes me happy.

Another way of putting it is that both my dogs and my own example
provide proof that life is not pointless drudgery and exploitation.
We provide living proof that joy, beauty and personal fulfillment
are possible in life.

I just don't think of those qualities when I think of the animal
rights fanatics I have known. They seem a rather sad and sorry lot
to me. I'll take my dogs' company any day.

Oh, but the icing on the cake is that I use these poor exploited
creatures to hunt innocent birds. How terrible!

Hunting, of course, is a subject of its own, and I won't attempt to
cover it here.

Suffice it to say that opposition to hunting flies in the face of a
few million years of human evolution, the entire balance of nature
everywhere on Earth, and common sense.

I know one thing for certain. The fact that we have healthy
populations of most species of wild birds and animals today is only
because hunters have cared enough to support strong conservation
measures. We have preserved millions of acres of habitat that is
vital to the survival of many species, saved more millions of acres
of wilderness from development, supported the protection of
endangered species everywhere, and put our money where are mouths
are.

Animal rights groupies do nothing but blow hot air, when they aren't
too busy destroying the land and the animals that live on it to
create vast wastelands of industrialized monoculture.

I am proud to be a hunter, too.

It's time for every dog owner and breeder to stand up proudly and be
counted.

Each one of you has done far more to enhance the quality of life of
both people and dogs than all of the animal rights activists put
together.

So stand up and shout it to the rooftops!

Stop crawling around on your bellies and apologizing. Your dogs
deserve better from you. You will just have to get a little tougher
if you want to live up to your dogs.

What you are doing is right.

It's just that simple.

The American Sporting Dog Alliance represents owners, breeders and
professionals who work with breeds of dogs that are used for
hunting. We welcome people who work with other breeds, too, as
legislative issues affect all of us. We are a grassroots movement
working to protect the rights of dog owners, and to assure that the
traditional relationships between dogs and humans maintains its
rightful place in American society and life.

The American Sporting Dog Alliance also needs your help so that we
can continue to work to protect the rights of dog owners. Your
membership, participation and support are truly essential to the
success of our mission. We are funded solely by the donations of our
members, and maintain strict independence.

Please visit us on the web at
http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org. Our email is
ASDA@.... Complete directions to join by mail or online are
found at the bottom left of each page.

PLEASE CROSS-POST AND FORWARD THIS REPORT TO YOUR FRIENDS

ChuckDC · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 12:49 pm Post subject:

Welcome to the club, in a way. Try being a hunter and/or shooter in this day and age. I face a lot of strange looks when I mention that, or when "helpful" co-workers mention it.

I was at the local SPCA picking up YET ANOTHER rescue dog, when one of the ACOs saw me. He was in my reserve police training class with me. He starts talking out loud to the shelter workers about how "good" I was with a handgun (hey, I used to COMPETE with them) and they looked at me like I was some sort of psycho or something. Rolling Eyes

versatilek9s · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 1:10 pm Post subject:

Thanks for posting this. It's a good reminder that we aren't the bad guys!

weimdawgs · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 1:26 pm Post subject:

My husband not only hunts and shoots, but collects firearms. A lot of firearms.

We see on the news all the time where "dozens of guns and rifles were discovered in a residence" blah blah blah. Notwithstanding the circumstances that caused the discovery, John gets very annoyed that somehow, even though the guns are all legal and registered,if necessary, the person is still assumed to be some kind of nut just because they own numerous guns.

I don't breed dogs, but am grateful for the people that do. I rescue because I love dogs.

youhavenoidea · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 1:43 pm Post subject:

Amen x 15852552834978!

iris · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 1:52 pm Post subject:

freespiritmom · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 2:19 pm Post subject:

The is a great post sometimes I think we all need to stop and remember that not all breeders are backyard breeders or puppy mills and not all hunters/firearm owners are bad people. Here some of the people who hunt also donate some of their processed meat to the homeless/soup kitchens. This is the reason we live in the USA so we have the rights to choose.

Pinchc44 · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 2:51 pm Post subject:

Great Post Anne, thanks for sharing. The difference to me between a backyard breeder and a responsible breeder is that you will NEVER see a responsible breeder in the wal-mart parking lot selling their puppies to any joe blow off the street. A responsible breeder will ask lots of questions to the possible owner and be open to the owner contacting them for help.

I love my girl, I got her from a breeder and wouldn't trade her for anything.

PamK · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 4:54 pm Post subject:

Thanks Anne for posting this. I agree with what was written.

wildlifecr13 · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 5:41 pm Post subject:

tried to hold back, but i got angry, so i had to respond to this post, sorry...

"Animal rights groupies do nothing but blow hot air, when they aren't
too busy destroying the land and the animals that live on it to
create vast wastelands of industrialized monoculture."

Regardless of the animal rights part, I see this as an urban vs rural thing. Now we are into land use planning... you just walked into my wheelhouse, so off I go on MY soap box.

The short of it... there are way too many people for us all to live on 15 acres. As it is, we all live at too low of a density to support - good example, over the past 30 years the population of the cleveland area has dropped 3%, the "urban" area has grown by 100%. Why? People left the downtown for a more rural setting... and for several reasons lots went from 1/8 acre to 1/4 acre to 1 acre to 5 acres to 10 acres... If we all lived on a 10 acre lot, there wouldnt be enough space to go around.

People crammed in these industrial monocultures take up less space, cost fewer tax dollars to service, and generally are the reason we have funding for national parks, etc. Lets compare the funding of national parks from city folks paying taxes to the funding provided by hunters... my ignorant guess is the city folk win. Its not that Im against hunters, groups like DU and PF are GREAT, but they arent the only thing keeping trees from getting knocked down across this country - each side needs to recognize the other for what it contributes.

Those out in the boonies may have 10 or 50 acres, but if we moved them all into cities, we could have hundreds of untouched acres, without a failed septic tank, a road, highway salt, school bus service, and giant trucks that let you "get through the snow and ice in the winter" while getting 10 mpg. Hell, Ohio could still have cougars and bison if we all lived at NYC's density.

Sorry, but living in that rural of a setting has a huge impact on our planet and is much less efficient than living in a city. that said, we need rural communities (esp farm communities), but people in rural areas have to understand an appreciate that the variety of living circumstances each brings something to the table, and that having right mix matters. ignorant overgeneralizations of city folk make the author of this look rather silly. - if this represents the ASDA, no way do I get involved in something that takes this kind of stance.

oh, and the "millions of years of human evolution"... if you want to get specific, the first Homo Sapiens walked earth about 200,000 years ago. Lucy is the oldest fossil - she is about 3 million years old, but she is PROBABLY a direct ancestor of ours. a "humanoid" i believe is the term.

this plays well to the idea that we have been burning oil in cars for what, about 120 years give or take... and yet people act like we can drill our way to enough energy to survive on. wake up people. so far humanity is a flash in the pan... earth is about 4 billion years old... we have put ourselves into a great pickle with an ever expanding population and a dependence on limited energy resources... something has to give at some point.

wildlifecr13 · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 5:51 pm Post subject:

oh, one more that caught my eye...

There is no one in America who exploits dogs for as much
money as the paid leaders of animal rights groups. Their fat
salaries depend on having animal issues to exploit. If there were no
animals for them to exploit, they would have to get a real job.

It's a rather perplexing dual standard, don't you think?

sounds a bit like the american cancer society, or any other group with a cause. im not a fan of peta, but the people that work any job that is considered by someone a 'worthwhile cause' does so because there is a yang to their yin, or whathaveyou. without environmental pollution i dont have a job... i would be happy to be unemployed if our land, air, and water were where they needed to be. they arent, so i go to work every day.

DanniGirl · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 7:34 pm Post subject:

CherrystoneWeims · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 7:55 pm Post subject:

Thank you Anne, for posting this! I get these newsletters also and always enjoy them.

As both a dog breeder and a hunter I can fully appreciate this post.

wildlifecr13 · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 8:43 pm Post subject:

the amount of agreement with this blows me away.
literally, i am this guy... Shocked

the text as a whole is attacking, cocky, stereotypical, and divisive.
im not a fan of the animal rights extremists, but what is that, 5% of the population?
does it really do you any good to take such a childish and angry stance?
isnt it possible to stand up for what you believe in with facts and figures, rather than name calling and angry 'us versus them' sentiment.
i get the point, and im ok with some of it, but the way it is presented makes me question the level of education and the overall cognitive ability of the person that wrote it.

am i alone on this???

wildlifecr13 · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 9:03 pm Post subject:

still cant let this one go.
i thought of an example of better language that i could support.

as dog owners and breeders, the health and welfare of our dogs is at the forefront of our minds at all times. our goals include the development of stronger, healthier genetic lines, the elimination of puppy mills and other facilities that breed strictly for profit, with no consideration for the health or welfare of their dogs or the breed, and the education of the general public and legislature on issues related to the ownership and breeding of dogs. the term 'breeder' has become tainted in many circles in recent years. due to the unscrupulous actions of some, all breeders are forced to confront these all too commonly held negative views which often garner media attention and cast a shadow on a noble and long standing occupation. we also support the use of dogs for work, including on the farm and in the field. there are individuals and groups who hold an extremist position that hope to eliminate the use of dogs for hunting and other jobs. it is our goal to educate the public on the origin of dog breeds, their intended proper uses, and the benefits of a well trained, champion field or show dog. we feel that our position, if clearly and appropriately communicated to the general public, will eliminate any potential harm those with extreme viewpoints could inflict. through a coordinated, multi-state effort we will ensure that best practices are developed and shared for breeding, showing, and field trials. adherence to these practices and the development of superior bloodlines and championship caliber dogs is not pinnacle of success, it is the minimum standard that we will accept. through our efforts we will help reduce the number of dogs in shelters and improve the overall pet trade industry within this country, which is currently an embarassment to quality breeders.

there... i didnt call anyone a gelatinous blob and i still communicated an intelligent position that pushes for smart breeding, working dogs, and the proper method for lobbying your cause. that wasnt so hard.