I was pretty excited about the recent release of the book “Barking Up the Wrong Tree: An Essay on Animal Welfare and Protection” by Attila Marton.
About time there was a push back by the “responsible breeder” community against the sickening vilification breeders in general have suffered lately in the name of animal welfare. Hear hear! Though I don’t agree with every point Attila makes, its a thoughtful book that I hope is read by anyone who is genuinely passionate about the plight of dogs.
Law a Blunt Instrument
The law can be a blunt instrument and poorly worded regulations often punish the wrong target. It was shocking for example to learn in Attila Marton’s book that some countries have banned the breeding of dogs by anyone, even registered breeders.
“If someone breeds dogs and wants to do it properly, responsible breeding ought to be promoted and encouraged instead of being punished.”
Tarring all breeders with the same brush is not just wrong, but also counterproductive, he rightly argues. The contribution registered breeders make to the suffering of dogs and the supply of abandoned pets is small. We won’t truly have much impact on these problems unless we treat the real causes, which he rightly identifies as irresponsible breeding and irresponsible owners. Statistics on the real source of shelter dogs here.
By irresponsible breeders he means people who are either too focussed on profit or too ignorant to provide proper care to their dogs or produce healthy, well adjusted puppies to aspiring owners.
“To breed dogs requires a great deal. All the physical, biological and mental needs of the dogs must be fulfilled. They need enough space to move, proper nutrition, socialisation, and effective medical care. It is a complex issue…”
Yes, and I liked his point that so long as sufficient funds are reinvested in their dogs, it should be no sin for responsible breeders to charge for their puppies.
Irresponsible owners are defined as those who are unaware or uncaring of how to make a success out of their ownership experience. Abandonment is the easy solution to the failed canine relationships that result.
The need to work on culture change (admittedly a slow process) is the key message here.
To start with, aspiring owners should be educated (by all registered breeders for a start) on how to avoid sourcing dogs from irresponsible breeders (I’ve been routinely doing this for years – see “Puppy Adoption Tips” sent to everyone who seeks a pup from me). Demand would soon dwindle and such breeders eventually go out of business.
Owners also need education on how to choose an appropriate breed, and fully understand and acknowledge the time, training, socialisation, care and exercise that any dog needs to become a happy and great companion. There are serious welfare implications in not just abused or neglected dogs, but also overfed and over-humanised pets. Dogs are not little people. We all need to learn how to “think dog”. And rehoming a shelter dog – which is often seriously damaged by trauma from its previous life and the shelter environment – requires a massive amount of additional owner effort and know-how dedicated to rehabilitation (with no guarantee of success). (For this reason I believe that pups are the best answer for most owners, and great breeders are the best place to source them.)
Registered breeders and animal welfare organisations working together?
Currently pitted against each other by welfare lobby smear campaigns maligning all dog breeding, both are really on the same side. Collaboration between animal welfare organisations and registered breeders would achieve greater long term gains for the wellbeing of dogs. As he points out, they are both cogs in the same machine and share a common enemy – the irresponsible breeder.
At the moment registered breeders make easy targets for welfare group propaganda simply because, unlike the backyarders and farms, they are so visible. And its a competitive situation: welfare groups need money to do the important work of rehabilitating and rehoming unwanted dogs. Every aspiring owner they turn away from breeders is potentially a paying client for themselves. And they are willing to use dirty tactics to do so:
“It is really easy to raise a huge amount of money in the name of animal welfare. People never like to see sad and tortured creatures, and exploiting the goodwill of humans in this way is more than immoral, its shameful and revolting.”
Gotta concur there too. And such tactics do little to curb the oversupply of dogs from irresponsible breeders or mills.
There were only a couple of views in the book that I did not share.
Given the serious health and welfare implications, I can’t agree that neutering puppies prior to sale is a good thing. The other was his claim that, given current limitations in the DNA tests available to registered breeders (yes, and genetic tests for dogs are of limited use), they are already doing all they can to prevent inherited disorders in their puppies and can’t therefore issue any guarantees. Due to its contribution to the suffering of dogs and their loving owners, linebreeding or inbreeding dogs is a pet hate of mine (pardon the pun) which is unfortunately rife and hotly defended by the registered breeder community. While inbreeding persists, genetic testing and other screening methods available to breeders contribute little to curbing most canine inherited disorders and drives owner into the arms of backyard cross-breeders.
But Attila Marton’s concluding thrust to the book hits the nail on the head –
“The big question is if you do not communicate and educate those who cause and trigger animal welfare problems how will anything ever change at all?”
A good effort and thanks for writing it Attila. Great to see someone challenging the status quo and calling for meaningful reform.
Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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