“Due to the unceasing efforts of animal rights extremists, more and more laws treat all breeding of domestic dogs or cats as something short of criminal.”
Well dumb breeders have made it easy for them. Those laws which you bridle at were put in place due to more and more communities having become sick and tired of the loss of our neighborhoods and tax dollars due to unregulated dog breeding.
“the majority of localities would have far fewer problems with animal overpopulation if they simply used laws they’ve had on the books for decades. Enforcing a simple leash law would go a long, long way in the prevention of unwanted pups or kittens”
I partly disagree. A bigger problem is the unceremonious dumping of used up or unprofitable dogs by idiotic breeders. The dogs are not spayed or neutered, are released without concern for the local community and have severe mental and physical problems which put people and their pets at risk. Who in their right mind would walk a cat?
The story you linked to is completely irrelevant. Shelters and rescues take dogs IN off the streets, rehabilitate them and find them homes all on their own dime / donations. Not out of the municipalities, not out of the county and most importantly not out of my pocketbook. Cletus breeders on the other hand could care less about how my town deals with their leftover “products.”
They could easily be shut down on health/sanitation laws or existing 'factory farm' laws. But local governments aren't interested because they get a lot of tax revenue from these large operations.
The ONLY people that breeding legislation will catch are the reputable hobby breeders. The puppy mills are protected, and the people who let their dogs roam and breed indiscriminately can't be caught, won't be prosecuted, and have no assets to pay a judgment.
The animal rights extremists are using unfactual rhetoric (which you are repeating) to shut down quality breeders. It's the same argument used for "gun control" -- and, just like gun control, the only people breeding legislation will punish are the law-abiding and the people who don't have "pull" or great wealth.
You are in bed with some really nasty people, I'm sure with the best of intentions, but look out for unintended consequences.