Sunday, March 15, 2009
SOS
We have a pure bred dog bought from a breeder who works ethically and with great care for maintaining a high quality genetic line.
That said, I have sometimes been given the fish eye by people who have aquired a "rescue dog". Somehow this has become a superior practice. A bit like using recycled paper towels or toilet paper.
A bit greener than thou.
This trend toward rescue is admirable at one level if it can reduce the unnecessary euthanasia--killing--of pets in surplus that is now epidemic in the nation's animal shelters.
At another level, it is an illusion.
We are not recycling trees here, we are recycling animals who have been sent to a shelter for a variety of reasons. Some of these include abuse, maltreatment and abandonment. the animal was taken away from the owner by animal protection agencies.
Surely one who rescues such a dog should know that there will be some additional work involved, not to say love and care, to compensate for the bad experiences.
Unfortunately many of these people have neither the skill or the time or the deep commitment to do this job well. They simply compound the problem. They take the dog back to the pound. Now the dog has had another bad experience at the hands of his "best friend".
In addition, some dogs are simply bad actors or have health problems and will never make partners with a human in the way that nature has developed the two species attraction for each other.
Until now I have felt alone in this point of view but in today's LATimes a stronger voice speaks on this subject.
At one level it seems absurd to want both a rescue dog and a dog that is a pure breed. There are such animals. Our breeder had three airedales who were found abandoned.
But most dogs that need rescue are mutts. I understand that the Obamas need an allergenic animal but if that is the case get a pure breed puppy.
The big factor here is that everyone should have the experience of bonding at the puppy age if they can. Bringing a young animal through the early months is an exciting experience. Surely no kid should miss it.
The Obamas are acting like most people who don't know dogs or the experience of being with animals.
If you don't want to housebreak then you are unprepared for the care that comes after.
Of course, realistically, someone else will be taking major care of the dog. Like the Obamas, the First Dog will not have a normal way of life as long as s/he lives in the White House in any case.
An interesting aside. The Bush's Barney had behavioral problems. Snappish. He bit a reporter.
