“Excuse me, since when are “slack jawed yokels” breeding quality pedigreed dogs? Or, for that matter, buying them?”
Google “Backyard Breeders.” They’re essentially trash looking to make a fast buck off of those willing to spend top dollar for designer dogs.
They are mutts, pure and simple.
Unscrupulous people (not to say 'crooks') are breeding "Silver Labs", "Goldendoodles," "Cockerpoos," and all sorts of other mutts, and the news media, stupid as always, are playing right along, claiming that these dogs are "hypoallergenic". People who do not do their homework buy them. They're the same people that buy swamp land in Florida and cars that run on tap water.
Unfortunately, you cannot legislate against (or cure) greed or stupidity.
But none of that has a single thing to do with reputable hobby breeders. A friend of mine who breeds first class hunting Poodles (yeah, you read that right. She has the first litter of Poodles whose parents are both titled Hunting Retriever Champions) was offered several thousand dollars to breed her champion sire to a Golden. She turned the guy down flat with a few nasty words on the side.