Oprah on Puppymills

kelliope

The REAL problem is people don't know how and most won't invest the time and energy required to really TRAIN AND EXERCISE their dogs. And I'm not talking "sit" and "stay" though those things are nice. I'm talking giving them enough exercise to prevent them from digging up the yard, how not to jump on people, socializing them, ect.

This IS the real issue behind the dogs at the shelter. I know. I've had to work with the ones there and all of them have behavior issues. Issues that for the most part can be resolved with lots of time and patience, but wouldn't have been issues in the first place with proper training, socialization and EXERCISE.

Oh, and proper choice of dog in the first place. Don't get the average border collie if you live in an apartment and don't like to go outside for exercise. I can't tell you how many ill-suited dogs I have seen go to sedentary people. Then they wonder why it didn't work out.

Well these dimwit owners aren't having puppies left under their pillow by the Puppy Fairy. They are, for the most part, getting them from their boss's brother's neighbor who just had a litter of labradors "with papers". They are getting them from the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. They are getting them from the guy selling "protection" pit bulls out of the back of his truck. Some of them are getting them from shelters that are so desperate to place dogs that they don't screen adopters sufficiently. The cluelessness of many puppy purchasers does not remove blame from commercial breeders and backyard breeders - it's an example of why commercial and backyard breeding is a problem, regardless of how frequently the kennel runs get hosed down and how nicely ventilated the concrete runs where the breeding stock spend their lives are. Commercial breeders have absolutely no concern for the what happens to the puppy once the credit card clears Pay Pal or the broker's check clears. They do nothing to screen out clueless owners, nothing to educate clueless owners, and nothing to assist the puppy that ends up being placed in what turns out to be a bad home. Commercial breeders never even find out if their puppies stay in their homes, much less do they do anything to assist the now adolescent dog if a mismatched placement occurs. They don't care what happens to the puppy, and hence have no incentive to place it appropriately. The fact that so many dolts end up acquiring puppies is the reason why commercial breeding is scummy, not a reason why commercial breeders can wash their hands of blame for abandoned and abused dogs.

It's sadlly ironic that most Mandatory S/N legislation, such as the legislation that nearly became law in CA specifically exempts large scale commercial breeders, and instead targets those small scale breeders who are most likely to have a clue where the puppies end up instead. I think THIS is where responsible breeders have to become proactive. Instead of allying themselves with one of the major sources of the problem in a misguided display of unity, I think small scale breeders should be working to educate legislators about the important differences between them and the commercial breeder, and educate legislators on how large scale commercial breeding perpetuates irresponsible pet ownership and pet abandonment. It's truly a shame when otherwise responsible breeders find themselves forced to choose between joining forces with HSUS or "Puppies R Us".

Of course it doesn't remove the blame.  There are plenty of factors involved in the pet overpopulation problem.  But just addresssing the breeding issue isn't the answer either.  I probably know a handful of people who should be dog owners imo.  But I know a about 75 or mor who own dogs.  Dogs that are locked away from the family or are destructive or were given up to the pound.

 I am not absolving breeders.  Nor do I think puppy mills are OK.  Quite the contrary.  To me puppy mills and other commodity markets that use living creatures in this way are pure evil. 

But what I am saying is maybe more needs to be addressed into the education of potential pet owners.  I know most reputable breeders nearly discourage people from wanting their breed, giving them all the bad about the breed right up front.    Bottom line is people want dogs.  People are also, on the whole, amazingly ignorant about what proper dog ownership entails.

To only address the breeding side of this problem is like putting a band aid on a cut artery.

I totally agree with you, kelliope. Many, many people don't know what they're getting into when they get a dog. And when they discover that a dog left in the yard without exercise will find a way to exercise, even if that means digging up the yard, they want to get rid of it.

Too many people want a dog to be there when they want it and take care of itself when they can't be bothered. And these are the people whose dogs end up in the shelter.

It's a two-sided (at least) problem. Education of the public on what it REALLY takes to care for a dog and where the dogs REALLY come from is going to be the best tool.  

FourIsCompany

Many, many people don't know what they're getting into when they get a dog. And when they discover that a dog left in the yard without exercise will find a way to exercise, even if that means digging up the yard, they want to get rid of it.

Why do you ignore the fact that a majority of the 70 million dogs in this country that live in 2/3rd as many home are doing ok.  Yes, there are some as you describe and you don't have to look no further than this forum to find such individuals.  I don't see any good come out of bashing JQP dog owner or name calling like "dimwits".  Its judgemental and that judgement is based on little knowledge of the individual's situations.

This might be slightly OT, but some people have said they watched it online.  Could someone give me the link?  I can't seem to find it, Thnaks  

georgie4682

This might be slightly OT, but some people have said they watched it online.  Could someone give me the link?  I can't seem to find it, Thnaks  

Here you go, full length, with few commercials:

http://pomrescue.com/blog1/?p=156

DPU

Why do you ignore the fact that a majority of the 70 million dogs in this country that live in 2/3rd as many home are doing ok.

I don't. I am not bashing JQP or anyone. Not at all. Ignorance is not the same as stupidity. And I didn't call ANYONE ANYTHING like dimwits. I just said that education is important. I actually don't know what you're talking about.   

DPU

Again, I have to say turn your concerns into helpful actions that will help the dogs on the edge. 

I assume you are referring to dogs in shelters and rescues. I cannot tell you how much I value the work done by you and so many others who adopt and foster these dogs. I would only suggest this is a reactionary solution to the problem. If we are to see real change we need to focus on ways of preventing these dogs from ending up in shelters to begin with. Is this not the goal of shelter and rescue organizations, to have no dogs coming in. IMO there are two doors to every shelter. The entrance and the exit. If you only put the focus on the exit door (adoption, foster) then you are fighting a losing battle as valuable and noble as it is.

Unfortunately, a lot of people out there don't really care, even when education is available. I learnt that when I was 15 and working at a wildlife park where parents would tell their children to look at the "porcupine" when the sign on the enclosure had a blurb about echidnas, and to watch the "ostrich" even when I told them they were actually emus.

So even making education more readily available, I think, is unlikely to help a good deal. However, we can all lead by example, and when I tell people why I'm buying a very expensive puppy of a rare breed from a breeder when I don't intend to show him, my reasoning makes sense, I get to showcase a breed extremely suitable to most families looking for a dog, and maybe one person in 5 thinks I might be onto something rather than being just completely insane. I think one of the most powerful tools we have at our disposal is that of trends. The more you make something like choosing a dog a major undertaking that goes on for 12 months or more and is a feature of conversation with you on a regular basis, the more you are able to make that kind of activity seem normal to other people you mix with. Hopefully so normal that they find themselves doing it next time they're looking for a dog. I'm never going to foster or get a shelter dog for my own reasons (although I can't wait to start fostering injured wildlife), but I can lead by example and make an impression on those around me. That's where the differences will be made. I have already educated a few people about the delights of rabbits as pets and the evils of commercial pet rabbit supplies just through usual social interactions and talking about my life and what I'm doing. And around me, I see the tiny hutches and the unhealthy rabbit mixes phasing out and large, indoor rabbit cages, playpens, and toys phasing in. The tide is turning with rabbits. It will take a long time, but things are changing, there's a new trend, and it's people with house rabbits as pets that are creating the change, quietly and inexorably.

corvus

Unfortunately, a lot of people out there don't really care, even when education is available.

You have to have a need for the education.  Yes, there is education out there on nuclear physics but why would I seek it out.  And if the education has some element debate of proper versus improper, then are you really "educating" or just causing a further mess?

I don't know.  I'd sure like to see people educated when getting a dog.  Educated on things like how often the dog needs exercise, what type of exercise it needs, how are they going to handle veterinary costs, how they are going to handle things like old age and possible incontinence.  Too many people get dogs with the idea that the dog can live as another human in the family - sitting around watching TV and being sedentary.  That is no life for the average dog and usually leads to behavior problems.  Then they lock the dog in the backyard because it's "too hyper".  I live on the west coast and can tell you that over 70% of the dogs I know do not have good homes.  They are lonely, locked up.  Even when their owners go camping they don't take the dog because it's too hyper and out of control.  And these are the "good" homes - the ones that don't dump at the shelter.

 Many rescues are requiring some type of education as a part of the adoption process - things like mandatory dog training, etc. Somehow I don't liken that type of education to nuclear physics. 

My family and me have worked in rescue basically my whole life.  I can't tell you the number of problem dogs we get.  All because they wanted the cute little puppy and didn't consider what life would be like in a busy household with the big, needy dog.

Call me judgemental if you must, but I would sure like to see people putting more effort into finding out what it really takes to own a happy, healthy, calm dog that can actually be a part of the family.

We'd all like to see that, but I just don't think it's as simple as education. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. There are loads of people out there that don't think they need to be educated on how to raise a dog or what a dog needs. They've had dogs before, maybe 20 years ago when they were kids, but whatever the case, it's not rocket science as far as they're concerned. 

These people have the attitude that a dog is just an animal. They're the same people who never wonder about where their meat comes from and what kind of life it had, or what happens to their dog if they get tired of it and surrender it to a shelter. You can educate them, but it won't make much difference until they change their attitude. That's where leading by example can be so valuable. Shelters that have mandatory training and whatnot are doing the most good, IMO, by setting a standard and leading by example than actually getting people to train their dogs. The more you make it a done thing to train your dog, the more likely you are to instigate a gradual change in the attitudes of these people that don't think they need education. 

My thoughts on the episode:

I thought it was pretty good.  I cried a lot, of course, but I thought they represented the many facets of the issue, and I was glad they discussed what a responsible breeder is and how to verify one.  In response to an earlier post, she does have the list of things to look for in a responsible breeder on her website.  Someone posted it here on Friday.  While I personally would rather adopt from a shelter or rescue, I respect the desires of others to buy from GOOD breeders.

While I agree that everyone cannot be educated, because, yes, there are people who just don't want to be educated, I do think she has helped educate people who probably just had no clue this stuff was going on.  Consider this, and I think it is fair to say, that the majority of the folks on this board are above average dog owners.  Why else would we spend so much time on here every day?  However, the average dog owner or potential dog owner may have just been plain ignorant as to this issue.  Oprah's show is a great outfit to reach out to the average person and educate those who may not know better.  If people know about this, and thus refuse to buy dogs from pet stores, the market reduces and forces the millers out of business.  There will be no business if there is no market for a product; that is the basis of a free market system, plain and simple.  However, I am disturbed by the fact that many millers are turning to the internet, which to them will/has become their next target for marketing their sales.  On the Oprah episode, there was, to my recollection, one passing comment about internet sales of puppies.  I kind of wish it was expanded upon.

While stopping puppy millers will not completely get rid of unwanted pets/overpopulation, it will certainly help reduce the problem.

Just my two cents.

Here is a message from Karen Strange printed with permission:



Considering the wave of comments about the Oprah Show not being as bad
as some anticipated, I want to make some points from the politically
incorrect perspective. For those who know me, I've never been politically
correct and have absolutely no intentions of starting now.

My Politically Incorrect Comments:

1. I owned and bred show dogs for many years, creating my own bloodlines
for the traits I desired. I championed many of them even though I was told
it would be impossible for a novice to show black chow bitches and finish
them without a handler. I finished three of them myself along with
numerous
others and ignored the comments.Were all of the dogs I produced show
quality? No. Were there any pets among them? Yes. Do I apologize for
breeding and producing them? No. Never have. Never will.
2. I have owned dogs for 32 years. I have never owned a mixed breed dog
or a dog from a questionable background. I don't want a dog from a
shelter,
pound or rescue. I want dogs from breeders. Since all of my chows have
died
of old age, I have switched to smaller dogs. ALL of them were BOUGHT from
a
professional licensed commercial breeder. DO I apologize for that?
Absolutely not!
3. I was told eighteen years ago by the "mother of the animal rights
movement" in Missouri that for every ONE of my dogs I bred, a thousand
dogs
died in shelters. It was my fault for breeding them when so many needed
homes. And, because my dogs were intact, I was creating an overpopulation
problem. I leaned across the table, looked the old gal ( sorry, I don't
consider her a lady), directly in the eye and said,
"I have several butcher knives in my kitchen drawer and they have the
capacity to kill people. That does not mean that I'm a murderer."
The debate carried on for more than two hours. I never wavered from my
position and have not to this day. I have no intentions of changing.
4. I have been told many times that when I buy from a breeder, shelter
and pound dogs will die, and that I should "adopt" one of those instead.
Not everyone wants a dog from a shelter, pound or rescue. I am one of
those
people. I DO NOT WANT a dog from any of those sources. If I could no
longer
buy from a breeder, I WOULD NOT HAVE A DOG AT ALL. I do not like 40 pound
black lab mixes that are available in my area. Don't tell me that there
are
purebreds available from those sources. I do not want a dog with no
pedigree, no registration papers and a questionable background. This is
America. I want to exercise my right as a citizen to participate in the
free
enterprise system and purchase a dog from the place of my choice or to
breed
the dogs I want. Telling me that I should not breed a dog or buy from a
breeder until all dogs are adopted from shelters, pounds and rescues is
like
telling people they should have no more children until all without homes
are
adopted. It will never happen. And, I have been around the block too many
times and see what is behind this campaign. It is a money-making,
control-seeking agenda that has nothing to do with animals and everything
to
do with taking away the rights of individuals, thereby creating a
socialist
state. It is an attempt by emotional flocks of sheep in people's clothing
demanding a cornering of the market to create a monopoly completely
controlled by themselves and their chosen few. Sorry, I am not falling for
it, so it does no good to preach to me about it nor does it do any good to
keep shoving legislation in my face to try to force it on me and those I
represent. I will use every political technique possible to kill the
disgusting animal rights agenda and will do so with absolutely no feelings
of remorse or guilt.
5. I do not believe in a socialist agenda that dictates what I can and
should do with my animals in my own home. I do not support true animal
abuse
and neglect, but I believe in using common sense rather than lynch-mob
emotion when making such judgments.
6. I become even more angered and determined to kill legislation when I
receive reports of threats and harassment against those I represent
following a ratings-seeking, money making piece of propaganda as was
featured Friday on television. When I receive calls from breeders who are
genuinely afraid for their families and their animals, it infuriates me to
the point of lobbying even harder against animal rights activists. Do
threats to my members make me more sympathetic towards activists?
Absolutely
not!! However, I will use those threats as a basis to kill legislation at
the capitol! So, each time my people are threatened in any manner, it
costs
the activists dearly. Keep threatening and I will keep killing your
legislation. I believe in revenge.
7. I am angered because people fall to their knees and hang their heads
in embarrassment for enjoying their animals. I am disgusted that people
fail
to stand up against a torrent of propaganda based on lies, deceit, theft,
and the elimination of their rights as American citizens. I am fed up with
pleading for people to help in this fight but they always have the excuse
of
being too busy. Well so am I, but what does that have to do with it?!! If
breeders and animal owners don't wake up and see what is coming at them
head-on, they will soon have all the time in the world to devote to flower
gardening and golf because there darn sure won't be any animals to enjoy!!
8. Do I have a guilty conscience for my lack of "compassion"? No, not in
the least and the prospects for changing don't look good. Do I care if I
don't seem politically correct? Nope.

If I sound angry, it's because I am. I'm sick and tired of people who
fall for emotional propaganda and can't see that they're being duped. As
I've quoted in my speeches many times,
"How sad that people follow like sheep and ask no questions."
I've spent much of my time in the last year traveling to the east where
I've been invited to speak to various Amish communities about the animal
rights movement. They are being heavily targeted because the animal rights
activists don't believe they will fight back. Well guess what!!!
Are they perfect in the care of their dogs? I answer that with a
question of my own....... is every dog interest perfect? Are ALL
hobby/show
people running a perfect kennel? Are ALL rescues running their operations
in
hospital-like surroundings? Are ALL shelters spotlessly clean and free of
disease and dirt? Are ALL commercial kennels operating 100% to Animal
Welfare Act requirements?
There are good and bad apples in every facet of animal ownership. The
Amish are no different. Many of them I have visited have absolutely
immaculate kennels with state of the art operations. I have seen good and
bad in every industry. What angers me is that there are a number of animal
owners who are relieved to see another part of the industry targeted in
order to take the heat off themselves. Rather than standing shoulder to
shoulder to help their fellow man, they choose to point fingers at
everyone
else, hoping that by continuing to "feed the crocodile, it will eat
everyone
else first". Rather than helping, it's easier to point fingers and say
"take
them first as long as you leave me alone".
I spent last week-end helping the Amish in an eastern state. They
presented their first breeder's seminar with guest speakers from
throughout
the Midwest educating them on all facets of kennel management and animal
care. I spoke on the origin of the animal rights movement and how to
protect
themselves.
When speaking to new groups, I tell them what the animal rights movement
is, how it affects them, how the propaganda and guilt play a large part in
the money-making control schemes put forth by the media and various
groups,
and what to do to counteract it. I close my speeches with the following:
"If we are aware of what is happening in the animal rights movement and
the evil agenda it presents, and we fail to stop it, then we will surely
get
what we deserve and our children will inherit that which we failed to do."

Written without guilt by Karen Strange, President & Registered Lobbyist
MoFed

Karen Strange is a person who loves her dogs and loves their type, truly dedicated to her own.  After initially fostering shelter dogs, that is just inviting one or two to live in my home, I found I extended the love I have for my residence dogs to the dog, that is dogs in general.  I consider myself a dog lover in the truest sense of its definition.