Oh give me a break. You’re seriously trying to equate your sloppy business practices to school funding? Just control your “industry” and ensure that my community isn’t on the short end of the stick.
>You’re seriously trying to equate your sloppy business practices to school funding?<
KB, I have a lot of respect for you. You and I agree on many, many things, including a dislike for backyard and commercial pet breeders who treat animals as products. And, I share your obvious respect for our country’s ideal of freedom and conservatism.
I haven’t bred a litter since 2001, BTW. It was a whopping 2 pups, both of which I kept until they were 6 months. I then neutered the “pet” quality male and sold him at a price where I recovered the cost of raising him. I do not believe in selling intact dogs to pet homes, but I make sure the surgery is done so there is no chance for someone to lie to me. His now-neutered champion brother, never bred BTW, is snoozing in the other room on DH’s lap. I NEVER in the time I raised show dogs, EVER raised more than 2 litters in a calendar year.
Dogs I sold for pet or for show were transferred with a contract stating that, if the buyer cannot or won’t keep the animal, it comes back to me, period. I’ve taken a few back, a fair percentage teen-aged, due to death of the owner or due to moving. I do not “dump” dogs on municipalities. Oh by the way, I’ve fostered more than a couple of “rescue” dogs, and have assisted rescue through the years.
Just as you don’t want to be taxed for animal control, I am well within my rights to state that I resent having to pay for public lands and for public money going to provide activities for little Bubba to play ball sports on every public school campus or public park in my area.
Like it or not, the vast majority of animal control costs are due to the owners of dogs, not to the producers, even the commercial ones. AKC statistics show that the majority of dog “breeders” (they don’t keep records on cats, obviously) register 1 litter throughout their pet owning histories.
Keep one thing in mind. IF the producers (commercial & backyard) were shunned by customers, they’d soon not be in the business of pet exploitation. I hold every person responsible who goes into a pet store and comes out with a living “product”. Sadly, it is these animals, who, do to temperament and behavior problems, end up being surrendered by shelters/pounds. It has been said that people spend far more time researching the purchase of a television than they do a living animal that has the potential to live 15-20 years.
It is the single pet owner who thinks nothing of giving away the family pet for convenience. Sadly, these owners take the hapless animals to the pound, convincing themselves that their animal will surely find a lovely home in the country, “with room to run”. We know the truth.