seems to me that the real problem isn’t a lack of homes but a lack of GOOD homes. I almost tried going to vet school, but when I actually worked in a vet clinic I immediately discovered that a healthy 50-75% of clients shouldn’t have been allowed to care for anything more than a stuffed animal. the shit you’re hearing on even a minutely basis mixed with the inbred, unhealthy, unsocialized animals you’re handling... So many christmas puppies and craigslist dogs. Yuck.
Honestly, that’s exactly the problem.
There is a solid lack of people who understand what owning a dog means, and as a result a solid lack of people who can actually responsibly own a dog. People have a hard time teaching their male dogs not to mark or hump, people wait to do any training until the dog has practiced for several years, people buy a dog from someone who shouldn’t have been breeding in the first place and then don’t do anything with it until far, far too late... honestly none of these people should have a dog and it’s alarming to think about.
Meanwhile it’s those same people that tell me that it’s not responsible to leave Creed intact- not responsible... how? Because he doesn’t hump or mark and hasn’t produced a single litter, so how are his balls the source of your problem? It’s not responsible to have a purebred dog from a breeder... how? Because he’s the best and longest lived and healthiest dog I’ve had as an adult, and my rescues- one of which was purebred and the other claimed to be but probably not- were unhealthy and had a lot of behavior concerns from their irresponsible owners that needed addressing.
And then they turn around and tell me most owners aren’t like me and they can’t hold people to that standard. Why not? Why not educate people and hold them to a higher standard? If I were to breed dogs, you can believe that I would not let any puppies go home unless I knew they would treat them as well as I treat my dogs. If they were not willing to educate themselves on proper dog ownership. If they were not willing to be responsible with the animals that did not choose to be brought into this world and did not choose to go home with them.
We don’t have an overpopulation problem. We have a responsibility problem. Even in places like the southern US, the issue is that no one wants to be responsible for the dogs they do have and the dogs they bring into this world. If every person producing a litter of puppies was responsible, we wouldn’t have dogs in shelters, period. If every person getting a dog was responsible, we wouldn’t have need for shelters, period. But they’re not, and the shelters and rescues are left to clean up the mess, and then they take it out on those that are responsible because somehow it’s their fault.
THIIIIISSSSSS.
Especially the “we don’t have an overpopulation problem; we have a responsibility problem.”
