The job of a shelter manager?

Yes the OP is a bit extreme (especially what they say about euthanasia - ime it's rarely that traumatic if done right), but I work in a shelter and see some pretty crappy things that our staff has to deal with.

In our shelter we get a TON of purebreds; I'm not surprised that owner relinquishments at certain shelters are higher than the national average of relinquished purebreds (25%). Currently we have 2 boxers (both strays actually), several min pins, a mini poodle, what looks like a purebred beardie, several labs of all colors, an australian cattle dog, a papillion, several shihtzus, several chihuahuas, a jack russell, and a whole litter of boston terrier puppies (with demodex) - we do not claim they are purebreds since we don't have papers, but imo they are obvious purebreds. Most of the purebreds we get are owner relinquish, but a number (like the boxers and labs) are strays.

Yes the number of animals euthed in this country has dropped - there are still people out there using old figures like in the OP, but regardless a death toll in the millions is unacceptable imo.

Re: behavior problems - do you have any idea where the 70% figure came from?! Local SPCAs don't necessarily know everything; I want a more reliable, scientific source.

I am the behavior coordinator at my shelter. Our statistics from the last year show that about 40% of our dogs are relinquished to us due to behavior problems, and you know what? Most of these "problems" are solved with basic training. We get dogs that dig, dogs that escape, dogs that jump on people, dogs that aren't obedient (and they've never had training so why would they be), the list goes on. Very few of the animals we get that have "behavior problems" are really in need of rehab, most just need more exercise, a routine, and some obedience classes - just like ANY other dog from ANY other source.

As for "no kill", don't get me started. if someone can find a place for the 18 THOUSAND animals my shelter takes in every year (without warehousing them) please let me know - we'd love to be able to stop euthing healthy, adoptable animals because of space. We treat dogs with kennel cough, we treat animals who are heartworm positive, we treat cats with URIs, etc. Heck we have a cat with a heart murmer on the floor now because she is a great animal and we have space right now for cats and I'm fostering a dog with two untreated broken legs, so don't blame euthanasia on the shelters!

 I fully support responsible breeders, and I fully support the OP. Think about it guys - you were not the author's target audience. No need to get defensive! The author was targetting the types of people we complain about every day, the ones who are posting on Craig's list and offering their black 6-month-old pit bull "free to a good home" because, gosh darn it, after 6 months of getting free reign of the house it still pees on the carpet.

Posted here it's a little like "preaching to the choir," but if even despite its obvious agenda it can help even one person re-consider breeding precious Fido to the cute mutt next door, it's worth it!

In our shelter we get a TON of purebreds; I'm not surprised that owner relinquishments at certain shelters are higher than the national average of relinquished purebreds (25%). Currently we have 2 boxers (both strays actually), several min pins, a mini poodle, what looks like a purebred beardie, several labs of all colors, an australian cattle dog, a papillion, several shihtzus, several chihuahuas, a jack russell, and a whole litter of boston terrier puppies (with demodex) - we do not claim they are purebreds since we don't have papers, but imo they are obvious purebreds. Most of the purebreds we get are owner relinquish, but a number (like the boxers and labs) are strays.

 
I really wish breeders would be required to microchip their dogs, have their info and the owners info on there, so any turn ins  or strays would be the breeders responsibility.
 
I had a hard time finding a pure bred Shih Tzu when I was looking years ago, They would label them pure bred, but they clearly weren't.
 
I have nothing against someone getting a dog from a breeder, what I don't understand is someone in this day and age not doing their research on a breed or breeder before getting a dog. There is no excuse for someone to buy a pet store puppy, or from a breeder breeding  dogs that are not  in the breed standard. I wanted a small dog, I did my research and within a few minutes learned that some people were selling "imperial" Shih Tzu's. I thought they were cute, another few minutes of research and I learned that they were usually not the healthiest dogs and a good breeder would not purposely produce them. I quickly decided not to buy from any breeder trying to sell them.
 
As for behavior problems, if a dog is a leash puller, a hole digger or something of that sort, I hate to see them labeled problem dogs, those things can be fixed with a little effort. All the dogs I have had didn't immediately do a good leahs walk, I had to train them. I had a Bernese Mountain dog that was a digger, drove me nuts until I realized she was bored and needed more mental and physical stimulation. In my opinion a resource guarder or a dog that doesn't like kids or men has a behavior problem, not  a dog that just hasn't been properly trained.

Re: behavior problems - do you have any idea where the 70% figure came from?! Local SPCAs don't necessarily know everything; I want a more reliable, scientific source.

 
I posted the link. 
 
I think your number of 40-50% might be a better average, but I don't what type of shelter you work at but there is a vast difference in statistics on whether it is a county shelter or a SPCA type of facility.  These differences can realy make a difference on the type of dogs seen and their condition upon entry.
 
I really wonder about your purebred statistics though.  If you don't have the papers in hand how do you know.  Sure there are some breeds that it is very obvious but when you get into the hound/terrier and even labs it can be really tough to tell for sure.  From what I have seen there has been about 5% that I could truely identify as a purebred.
 
 

I really wish breeders would be required to microchip their dogs, have their info and the owners info on there, so any turn ins or strays would be the breeders responsibility.

 
Why should it be the breeders responsibility?   After all it the the dogs owner that turned the dog in not the breeder. 

timsdat - the link is just to your SPCA - where did they get their stat??

As to the "estimate" - I never made one (just mentioned the one from the OP and the 25% that national groups use). I also said that we don't guarantee that dogs are PB, but to my eye they look it. All I can do is compare them to the known purebreds I've met and see how closely they resemble each other - if it looks like a boxer, acts like a boxer, and moves like a boxer, I consider it a boxer. []

BTW, I work at a humane society that also houses dogs for county and city animal control and takes all animals brought in by individuals from the area. We're open admission, capacity of about 350 animals.

Why should it be the breeders responsibility? After all it the the dogs owner that turned the dog in not the breeder.

In my opinion, a good breeder will take back any of their dogs for any reason. The breeder I got my dogs from had it right in the contract that they will.
 
If I was a breeder of dogs, I would want the dog returned to me first.

timsdat - the link is just to your SPCA - where did they get their stat??

 
You would really have to ask them.  I just put it out there to show that these "numbers" that people report are so inaccurate.

As to the "estimate" - I never made one (just mentioned the one from the OP and the 25% that national groups use).

 
These estimates are one thing that really bother me.  These is no basis in fact or statistics behind many of these numbers and it seems that expecially when we talk about euth numbers the numbers seem to inflate vastly when we talk about manditory S/N.  When anti breeding people put out information the % of purebreds in shelters seem to inflate vastly.  When groups what to talk about dog overpopulation they always seem to include the cats statistics and then say about animals going into shelters.
 

I also said that we don't guarantee that dogs are PB, but to my eye they look it. All I can do is compare them to the known purebreds I've met and see how closely they resemble each other - if it looks like a boxer, acts like a boxer, and moves like a boxer, I consider it a boxer.

There in lies the problem.  Unless you are a expert in all the several hundred breeds and have extensive exposure it gets really tough.  I can't tell you the number of times I have heard the Mini-collie statement and many times and sometimes from vet techs and vets.  These are people that should know.  I am at dog shows a lot and I still get many of the especially terrier breeds mixed up.  I know somethat that was fostering a boxer/lab mix and just about everyone thought it was a boxer.  There was some small differences between this dog and a boxer but not drastic and you had to have a trained eye in boxers to see that.

 

I fully support responsible breeders, and I fully support the OP. Think about it guys - you were not the author's target audience.

 
Cita,
 
I'm sorry but I don't agree about the intention of the origional post to Craigs list.  It is an anti-breeder rant that you always see from the AR crowd. 
 
You know what tips it off :
 

My point to all of this DON'T BREED OR BUY WHILE SHELTER PETS DIE!

 
That is part of the mantra of the anti-breeding crowd.

Search for that quote on the web and see what you come up with.
 
 

ORIGINAL: dubilpie

Why should it be the breeders responsibility? After all it the the dogs owner that turned the dog in not the breeder.

In my opinion, a good breeder will take back any of their dogs for any reason. The breeder I got my dogs from had it right in the contract that they will.

If I was a breeder of dogs, I would want the dog returned to me first.

In my opinion, it is the owner's responsibility to train the dog, contain it, and otherwise make sure it doesn't end up in a shelter.  Of course, a breeder who cares about the dogs will take a dog back or get it out of the shelter.  That doesn't make it the breeder's fault if a dog they bred goes to a shelter - the fault lies with the owner that turned it in.

In my opinion, it is the owner's responsibility to train the dog, contain it, and otherwise make sure it doesn't end up in a shelter

 
Exactly.  In my opinion there is no good reason for a dog to end up in a shelter.  It is 100% the OWNERS fault.  If they don't want the dog or the dog is a problem then they should fix the problem or have the the b---s to have the dog PTS themselves.  It's just like a lot of other things going on in this country.  Lack of personal responsibility. 
 
Gee someone is not responsible for their dog well lets make the breeder responsible not the person who is causing the problem!!!!
 
 
 

Gee someone is not responsible for their dog well lets make the breeder responsible not the person who is causing the problem!!!!

Seems like you like twisting things around. I never said the person turning the dog in was not responsible. If you were a breeder wouldn't you want to be notified if one of your dogs ended up at a shelter? Or would you rather it be put down or adopted to who knows what?
 
Where did I ever say if was the breeders fault? I never ever said it wasn't the owners responsibility to train their dog. I was at no time putting the blame on the breeders, all I said was I wish dogs that came from breeders were microchipped with the breeders and owners info, so when they turned up at shelters the breeders could claim them. I think it is their moral responsibilty to care about  where each and every dog they sell ends up
 

ORIGINAL: timsdat

In my opinion, it is the owner's responsibility to train the dog, contain it, and otherwise make sure it doesn't end up in a shelter

Exactly.  In my opinion there is no good reason for a dog to end up in a shelter.  It is 100% the OWNERS fault.  If they don't want the dog or the dog is a problem then they should fix the problem or have the the b---s to have the dog PTS themselves.  It's just like a lot of other things going on in this country.  Lack of personal responsibility. 

Gee someone is not responsible for their dog well lets make the breeder responsible not the person who is causing the problem!!!!

I don't think anyone (on the board) is saying that it is the breeder's fault that the dog is in the shelter, only that a responsible breeder would want the dog back. If the breeder's response to finding one of his pups in a shelter is "Oh well - screw it; not my problem", then that person probably shouldn't be breeding. Not because they are the reason that the dogs are in the shelter, but because they will not claim responsibility for a life that they chose to bring into this world.

I think it is their moral responsibilty to care about where each and every dog they sell ends up

 
It's funny that we have gotten so twisted up with all the AR agenda that we have lost sight that these are animals.  Anymore a breeder has to just through so many hoops to please everyone to the nth degree or be deemed not a responsible breeder and even when they do they are demonized by just about every shelter and AR person.  We have forgetten the fact that dogs are animals not little people in fur coats.
 

ORIGINAL: timsdat

I think it is their moral responsibilty to care about where each and every dog they sell ends up

It's funny that we have gotten so twisted up with all the AR agenda that we have lost sight that these are animals.  Anymore a breeder has to just through so many hoops to please everyone to the nth degree or be deemed not a responsible breeder and even when they do they are demonized by just about every shelter and AR person.  We have forgetten the fact that dogs are animals not little people in fur coats.

Sorry, but I couldn't just let this go...and just so you know where I am coming from, I have one rescue dog and one dog from a breeder and I have a real dislike for groups like PETA.  I have no agenda here.

However-I really take issue with the whole "these are not people" attitude.  The fact that dogs are animals does not make humans any less responsible for their well being nor does it mean that it is therefore OK to dump, over breed, badly breed, mistreat, mishandle,or misuse them.

If you are a breeder, it is your responsibility to make sure that your breeding animals are as healthy, fit, and as sound in body and mind as possible before you breed them, it is your responsibility to make sure that your dogs have proper care before they go into their new homes,and it is your responsibility to place the lives YOU create into good homes, PERIOD.

If you are an owner, it is you responsibility to provide health care, training, stimuation, proper confinment, food, and water PERIOD.

No animals are not people--they are beings that are completely at our mercy and they depend on us to give them the care they need and to do right by them. 

To excuse our (collective) own failures with statements like "animals are not little people" is a cop out and does nothing to advance or improve the lives of animals or humans.  One does not have to be human to experience terror, pain, and abandonment.