Is Banning The Selling Of Puppies From Pet Shops The Solution?

[fiery_di]

Some great points raised. I still honestly dont see how banning puppy mills & pet shops from stocking/selling will be the ultimate solution. Band aid, yes, but not the outright solution.

Another point I considered was actually having a person in authority as spokesperson going into all the schools (such as a ranger, a rescuer, a pound worker)? Preschools, primary, high school and 'educating' the youngsters firsthand. They are the impressionable bunch, and the ones that are most likely to 'want' a puppy or dog & beg the parents to get one. Educating them on the plight of the dogs/puppies in puppy mills (dont know if a lot of parents would like their children EXPOSED to such graphic-ness, but I guess individual written permission could be sought) and then teaching them to know where to go, what answers to ask, what to look for, what style of dog/breed is best for their actual environment when they endeavour to bring a furry member into the household is another way in teaching thus minimising the amount of dogs bought from places that receive their stock from ill-repute puppy mills.

Imagine what it would be like having a child say that they want a puppy, then the parent saying let's look in the paper, then the child turning around and saying that they would rather go to the pound or rescue org, or wanting to know what they were getting & where from, and knowing what health issues in the ancestry? As a parent you couldnt possibly help but take the child seriously could you??

Edited July 6, 2010 by fiery_di

[~Anne~]

I think puppy farms should be banned. I think pet shops should be allowed to go about their business, with regulations in place, about the care and sale of animals they sell.

Pet shops have sold animals for many, many years. It is the puppy farmers who have sprung up that are the issue, not the petshops.

Many petshops are supporting puppy farmers by sourcing their pups through them, but if pet shops stop selling pups, do you really think that is going to stop the misery of the dogs in cages being bred from over and over? The internet is the biggest selling tool they have now. The internet is not going away. They will still breed and sell and they will do it without the pet shops.

If the farms were outlawed, the problem would cease to be in existance. If petshops are banned from selling puppies, the breeding will not cease, they'll just be sold in a different way. Think about it.

Puppy farmers make much higher profits selling the dogs direct than what they do selling to a petshop. The idea that puppy farms just breed to sell to petshops is wrong in my opinion. They have now realised the value of setting up websites and shipping dogs all over Australia themselves.

Put your energies and passion behind the call to ban puppy farms, not pet shops.

[karly101]

I don't think we will ever achieve banning of puppy farms or selling of puppies in petshops...it would be nice to see more petshops partnering with rescues and I'm really surprised it hasn't taken off as much here as it is in the USA...the petshop can really make it work for them with advertising and I'm sure they wouldn't loose out sales wise.

I think what can be done is demand better standards that are actually enforced at these puppy farms, so the poor bitches are actually treated humanely, so that how many litters they have is regulated. And preferably I would like to see desexing compulsory unless medical reason or membership with ankc but I think that will be impossible to police as they can't even get all dogs sold with microchips.

[Shmurps]

I think puppy farms should be banned. I think pet shops should be allowed to go about their business, with regulations in place, about the care and sale of animals they sell.

Pet shops have sold animals for many, many years. It is the puppy farmers who have sprung up that are the issue, not the petshops.

Many petshops are supporting puppy farmers by sourcing their pups through them, but if pet shops stop selling pups, do you really think that is going to stop the misery of the dogs in cages being bred from over and over? The internet is the biggest selling tool they have now. The internet is not going away. They will still breed and sell and they will do it without the pet shops.

If the farms were outlawed, the problem would cease to be in existance. If petshops are banned from selling puppies, the breeding will not cease, they'll just be sold in a different way. Think about it.

Puppy farmers make much higher profits selling the dogs direct than what they do selling to a petshop. The idea that puppy farms just breed to sell to petshops is wrong in my opinion. They have now realised the value of setting up websites and shipping dogs all over Australia themselves.

Put your energies and passion behind the call to ban puppy farms, not pet shops.

Yes there has been a shift with puppy farms selling via internet. And I am a massive supporter of banning these factories.

However pups in pet shops still should be banned.

Pet shops use things like scourban and lactade (not sure on spelling) to make poor puppies all happy and bouncy in the window. Ventilation is poor, especially in the shopping centers.

Shops wont spend money on pups if in need of vet. I have heard of stores that they put them out the back to die. They come straight from the farm off loaded from dirty crates and straight into shop window. I could go on. Only having been in the pet industry a couple of years these are stories I have heard from people that have been in pet shops where this happens. Most of the girls I work with started when they were younger and knew no different. Yes some reported them and some just left. It still happens.

I reported a shop not long ago. To cut a long story short animal welfare went out, council was going to take her to court as there has been over 100 complaints. Since found out not going to court.

If laws, legislation, code of practices (for what they're worth) are not policed then the sale of pups and kittens should be banned.

[poodlefan]

You've got to move past the "pups in the petshop" image to tackle what lies beneath it:

* Is it acceptable to anyone who gives a damn about animal welfare to see pups whelped in large scale facilities where they lack human contact, good nutrition and adequate space then shipped age 5 weeks for sale?

* Is it acceptable to see pups that are only partially vaccinated mixed in with other litters, in less than hygenic circumstances and handled by people off the street who are not sterile?

* Is it acceptable to see pups impulse bought without any vetting of the buyers suitability to raise and care for them?

* Is it acceptable to see pups forced to live, eat, sleep and play where they eliminate, breaking down their natural inhibitions about cleanliness?

The answer to all of those questions for me is a flat NO. I don't care whether those events occur in a retail outlet or a back yard.

If that makes it more difficult for people to obtain a family pet than so be it. Hopefully the upshot of that is that fewer pets will end their lives with a needle at a pound.

Edited July 6, 2010 by poodlefan

[~Anne~]

Shmurps, replace the word 'petshop' with 'breeder' and you see the exact same thing and yet we are not calling for the sale of puppies by breeders. There are pet shops that are poorly managed and the animals are not cared for appropriately, but proprotionally, I think this is on the smaller scale. The same with breeders. The greater majority are doing the right thing or are willing to do the right thing by the animals in their care. If anything, petshops are less inclined to mistreat animals as they do have inspections and they are in the public eye. Breeders are not inspected. They are not in the public eye.

Ban puppy farms, regardless of what they breed (ie cross bred or registered purebreds).

[RallyValley]

Some great points raised. I still honestly dont see how banning puppy mills & pet shops from stocking/selling will be the ultimate solution. Band aid, yes, but not the outright solution.

Another point I considered was actually having a person in authority as spokesperson going into all the schools (such as a ranger, a rescuer, a pound worker)? Preschools, primary, high school and 'educating' the youngsters firsthand. They are the impressionable bunch, and the ones that are most likely to 'want' a puppy or dog & beg the parents to get one. Educating them on the plight of the dogs/puppies in puppy mills (dont know if a lot of parents would like their children EXPOSED to such graphic-ness, but I guess individual written permission could be sought) and then teaching them to know where to go, what answers to ask, what to look for, what style of dog/breed is best for their actual environment when they endeavour to bring a furry member into the household is another way in teaching thus minimising the amount of dogs bought from places that receive their stock from ill-repute puppy mills.

Imagine what it would be like having a child say that they want a puppy, then the parent saying let's look in the paper, then the child turning around and saying that they would rather go to the pound or rescue org, or wanting to know what they were getting & where from, and knowing what health issues in the ancestry? As a parent you couldnt possibly help but take the child seriously could you??

Can you imagine all the kids with oodles or pet shop puppies going home in tears to mom and dad... that would do a lot for the cause.

[Libster]

Tilly and I live in the country and we have ads in the local papers saying "Puppies wanted loving homes waiting" . Maybe banning these ads could curb supplies to pet shops. This could also help with the amount of working dogs going to the cities and ending up in the pounds. Sadly I think this is what happened to the rest of Tilly's litter ......

[fiery_di]

I think puppy farms should be banned. I think pet shops should be allowed to go about their business, with regulations in place, about the care and sale of animals they sell.

Pet shops have sold animals for many, many years. It is the puppy farmers who have sprung up that are the issue, not the petshops.

Many petshops are supporting puppy farmers by sourcing their pups through them, but if pet shops stop selling pups, do you really think that is going to stop the misery of the dogs in cages being bred from over and over? The internet is the biggest selling tool they have now. The internet is not going away. They will still breed and sell and they will do it without the pet shops.

If the farms were outlawed, the problem would cease to be in existance. If petshops are banned from selling puppies, the breeding will not cease, they'll just be sold in a different way. Think about it.

Puppy farmers make much higher profits selling the dogs direct than what they do selling to a petshop. The idea that puppy farms just breed to sell to petshops is wrong in my opinion. They have now realised the value of setting up websites and shipping dogs all over Australia themselves.

Put your energies and passion behind the call to ban puppy farms, not pet shops.

Good point.. Agreed in regards to the pet shops. I can see where you are coming from. Puppy mills would probably much rather sell direct for a higher profit margin, BUT is banning the puppy mills then altogether going to the solution OR creating a bigger problem with a more sinister outcome? As you mentioned the breeding would NOT cease, they would find a ways & means to keep breeding and selling & at the risk of poorer & more worse conditions than they already are as it would be illegal. And because it could become to hush hush & secretive it could go right on under our noses to our unawares! Whereas not banning would be easier to monitor/police (not that they are doing a great job it seems from the articles/websites I have read) & try to keep it regulated.

Again I reiterate, I dont suggest that I have the answers. Just trying to put the points across from that other perspective that the outcome of banning could be WORSE than what it is being legal. God it is a hard situation..

[fiery_di]

Some great points raised. I still honestly dont see how banning puppy mills & pet shops from stocking/selling will be the ultimate solution. Band aid, yes, but not the outright solution.

Another point I considered was actually having a person in authority as spokesperson going into all the schools (such as a ranger, a rescuer, a pound worker)? Preschools, primary, high school and 'educating' the youngsters firsthand. They are the impressionable bunch, and the ones that are most likely to 'want' a puppy or dog & beg the parents to get one. Educating them on the plight of the dogs/puppies in puppy mills (dont know if a lot of parents would like their children EXPOSED to such graphic-ness, but I guess individual written permission could be sought) and then teaching them to know where to go, what answers to ask, what to look for, what style of dog/breed is best for their actual environment when they endeavour to bring a furry member into the household is another way in teaching thus minimising the amount of dogs bought from places that receive their stock from ill-repute puppy mills.

Imagine what it would be like having a child say that they want a puppy, then the parent saying let's look in the paper, then the child turning around and saying that they would rather go to the pound or rescue org, or wanting to know what they were getting & where from, and knowing what health issues in the ancestry? As a parent you couldnt possibly help but take the child seriously could you??

Can you imagine all the kids with oodles or pet shop puppies going home in tears to mom and dad... that would do a lot for the cause.

Would be interesting wouldnt it.. Do you mean that it would do alot for the cause in a good way? Or do you think that alot of parents could get their knickers in a knot?

[~Anne~]

Yes, true Di. The same would apply with famrers going underground...but then, they have to sell their pups somewhere and so they could be tracked. The black market may be fine if you are only selling a few....but how will the public across Australia find them? They have to advertise in some way, shape or form.

[RallyValley]

Some great points raised. I still honestly dont see how banning puppy mills & pet shops from stocking/selling will be the ultimate solution. Band aid, yes, but not the outright solution.

Another point I considered was actually having a person in authority as spokesperson going into all the schools (such as a ranger, a rescuer, a pound worker)? Preschools, primary, high school and 'educating' the youngsters firsthand. They are the impressionable bunch, and the ones that are most likely to 'want' a puppy or dog & beg the parents to get one. Educating them on the plight of the dogs/puppies in puppy mills (dont know if a lot of parents would like their children EXPOSED to such graphic-ness, but I guess individual written permission could be sought) and then teaching them to know where to go, what answers to ask, what to look for, what style of dog/breed is best for their actual environment when they endeavour to bring a furry member into the household is another way in teaching thus minimising the amount of dogs bought from places that receive their stock from ill-repute puppy mills.

Imagine what it would be like having a child say that they want a puppy, then the parent saying let's look in the paper, then the child turning around and saying that they would rather go to the pound or rescue org, or wanting to know what they were getting & where from, and knowing what health issues in the ancestry? As a parent you couldnt possibly help but take the child seriously could you??

Can you imagine all the kids with oodles or pet shop puppies going home in tears to mom and dad... that would do a lot for the cause.

Would be interesting wouldnt it.. Do you mean that it would do alot for the cause in a good way? Or do you think that alot of parents could get their knickers in a knot?

Sorry sarcastic isnt effective on the internet. I think it would be negative especially considering how OTT some parents are. Think of children would feel, here are dogs suffering and YOUR beloved pet caused this! It has nothing to do with them, it would just make them feel guilty for loving thier dog. And make enemies of parents who would have needed the education the most.

[casowner]

I was going to keep out of this thread but as usual my fingers get itchy. Regulation/Education is what will work - how can someone that simply joins an association automatically be considered a Ethical source to buy puppies you just have to read DOL to hear problems with not only pet shops, puppy farms and registered breeders. I don't sell pups in my store, my decision however why am I less "qualified" to place a pup in a home than some unethical registered breeder or byb or anyone else just because I work in a pet shop? I have over 20 years experience in working in a shelter, training specialised dogs for disabled people including the selection/training etc of them, grooming, lecturing, rescuing, vet nursing, sat on Government Boards regarding Animal Welfare/Regulation etc etc. Read the Trading post, search the internet, look in the local papers far more unregulated sales go through there than a pet shop. Regulate the hell out of crap holes that do the wrong thing - they are a bane of my existance but alienating those that can work together with people will only increase all of the problems. This is what the Animal Industry doesn't get - by focusing on one area you magnify the issues in another and things will never get better because our own agendas/emotions get in the way of what is really important - the animals. My motto is Educate, not alienate because I feel education is far more important than just shutting one door for another 5 to open. I have dropped out of all Animal Industry related groups/boards etc as no matter how passionate I am about the improvement of it I am that disillusioned with the whole system and the blind emotions that go with it as in the end the animals continue to suffer and we continue to butt heads rather than communicate effectively with the same goals in mind. To me that is a shame as I have spent my whole life learning about all areas of the Industry so that I can have an even opinion and in the end all I have done is make my hair go greyer faster and now I live quite happily under my rock with all of my treasured animals who are now my focus.

Edited July 7, 2010 by casowner

[Shmurps]

Shmurps, replace the word 'petshop' with 'breeder' and you see the exact same thing and yet we are not calling for the sale of puppies by breeders. There are pet shops that are poorly managed and the animals are not cared for appropriately, but proprotionally, I think this is on the smaller scale. The same with breeders. The greater majority are doing the right thing or are willing to do the right thing by the animals in their care. If anything, petshops are less inclined to mistreat animals as they do have inspections and they are in the public eye. Breeders are not inspected. They are not in the public eye.

Ban puppy farms, regardless of what they breed (ie cross bred or registered purebreds).

My first experience going to a pet shop that sold pups, mum had to drag me out as I was so upset.

I have hated pups, kittens and rabbits in pet shops.

I have to disagree about being less inclined to mistreat animals. As far as inspections go it's a joke.

A lot Pet stores have the worst reputation as far as info goes as well.

[fiery_di]

Some great points raised. I still honestly dont see how banning puppy mills & pet shops from stocking/selling will be the ultimate solution. Band aid, yes, but not the outright solution.

Another point I considered was actually having a person in authority as spokesperson going into all the schools (such as a ranger, a rescuer, a pound worker)? Preschools, primary, high school and 'educating' the youngsters firsthand. They are the impressionable bunch, and the ones that are most likely to 'want' a puppy or dog & beg the parents to get one. Educating them on the plight of the dogs/puppies in puppy mills (dont know if a lot of parents would like their children EXPOSED to such graphic-ness, but I guess individual written permission could be sought) and then teaching them to know where to go, what answers to ask, what to look for, what style of dog/breed is best for their actual environment when they endeavour to bring a furry member into the household is another way in teaching thus minimising the amount of dogs bought from places that receive their stock from ill-repute puppy mills.

Imagine what it would be like having a child say that they want a puppy, then the parent saying let's look in the paper, then the child turning around and saying that they would rather go to the pound or rescue org, or wanting to know what they were getting & where from, and knowing what health issues in the ancestry? As a parent you couldnt possibly help but take the child seriously could you??

Can you imagine all the kids with oodles or pet shop puppies going home in tears to mom and dad... that would do a lot for the cause.

Would be interesting wouldnt it.. Do you mean that it would do alot for the cause in a good way? Or do you think that alot of parents could get their knickers in a knot?

Sorry sarcastic isnt effective on the internet. I think it would be negative especially considering how OTT some parents are. Think of children would feel, here are dogs suffering and YOUR beloved pet caused this! It has nothing to do with them, it would just make them feel guilty for loving thier dog. And make enemies of parents who would have needed the education the most.

Good point actually - I guess you would have to be very careful in the delivery. Saying something such as - You know, maybe your dog didnt come from one of these places, BUT they are growing & expanding and think of the other dogs that are in these mills. If you have a dog and you dont know where it came from, just remember - Your dog is still your dog, you love them & cherish them & they have done nothing wrong, in fact they are the victim. They deserve a good life. But the more these mills pop up & keep running the more 'other' dogs are going to be kept in these horrible conditions. Even some of us have in the past bought a pet from a place where these puppies came from. It isnt that we did something BAD but we just werent aware of what truly goes on in some places. That is why we can make a stand in the future.

Waffling a bit.. I mean we talk about stranger danger & people NOT being allowed to touch us in private places. It would be great if we could teach the kids about pet danger too.

[Souff]

Yo, you are on the right track FD.

Ban anything and you immediately create a black market. Dead set certainty.

Human beings are totally ingenious and some find a ban a challenge, and if they get caught doing whatever is banned, well the legal fraternity are ready and waiting for them, rubbing their hands together. Laws are made for lawyers to get rich and are often made by lawyers. That is no accident.

Bans keep the dibberdobbers in a lather but the black markets and the lawyers thrive, dibberdobbers notwithstanding.

Souff is still totally against the deliberate breeding of crossbred dogs, but would a law for that totally stop it? Of course not.

It would mean that the practice would be regulated though and that, in my very own humble opinion, would hopefully raise the bar and we might see better bred dogs and less plundering of gene pools. Might. Little pigs might sprout wings and fly too. When Jed sees that Souff is banging this drum again, that is probably what we will hear.

Education wins over bans everytime, and if we can educate people to understand that there is a very limited supply of purebred dogs left in some of the gene pools, and that crossbreeding dogs has the capacity to annihilate whole breeds of dogs in a very short space of time, then we will be making some progress.

Now what was I saying about little pigs .....

Souff

Can't say that I see black market mongrel dogs as a lucrative sales potential in general terms. Banning of pet shop puppies would certainly reduce impulse buying as the availability on hand is no longer there. Anyone wanting a puppy other than from a registered breeder is more difficult to scource and takes effort that the impulse buyer I don't believe will take that initiative. Personally I think it should be illegal to breed and sell puppies period unless you hold a breeders licence/registration.

Cheers

Nev

Replace "black market mongrel dogs" with "non-allergenic designer dogs" and sadly you have wording that has been proven to be very lucrative.

Impulse buying would be reduced, but not totally eliminated because people can still make stupid snap decisions when they are around cute fluffy puppies and dont always consider the long term care of that puppy, particularly in school holidays. Kids go back to school, Mum and Dad go back to work, no time for training, and within weeks they can have "a nuisance dog" that they no longer want to keep.

Souff

[Souff]

Shmurps, replace the word 'petshop' with 'breeder' and you see the exact same thing and yet we are not calling for the sale of puppies by breeders. There are pet shops that are poorly managed and the animals are not cared for appropriately, but proprotionally, I think this is on the smaller scale. The same with breeders. The greater majority are doing the right thing or are willing to do the right thing by the animals in their care. If anything, petshops are less inclined to mistreat animals as they do have inspections and they are in the public eye. Breeders are not inspected. They are not in the public eye.

Ban puppy farms, regardless of what they breed (ie cross bred or registered purebreds).

Question:

How would you define a "puppy farm" in such a ban?

Souff

[whiskedaway]

What's the difference between a pet shop puppy sale and a sale of a pup picked up from the breeders house? I've known many people who've just rang up about a pup in an ad and gone to pick it up, no home checks no interrogations it's the same thing in a lot of ways the only real difference I can see is that instead of walking past a shop they have picked up the paper and called the number?

Good point. We had already decided that the Husky was the perfect dog for us (we'd been speaking to a couple of breeders in Adelaide, and we'd gotten a lot of information and we'd already been offered a pup from one breeder's coming litter) but Akira was advertised in the paper, we rang up and we picked her up. She was an accident, the owner had two Huskies and when he was overseas some idiot let the male dog in with the female while she was in heat. As a result, we paid a lot less for her (the owner only wanted to cover his vet and food bills because "backyard breeding is wrong" in his words) but we had no home checks or anything like that.

I think that everyone has a really good point about education, though. Banning won't do anything, but making it more obvious will. The media needs to get on board, because most people will believe what the media tells them. And stations like Channel 10 with the Mal puppy on The Circle need to be shamed by the other stations if they won't correct what they've said. It's the only way people are going to learn - if it's drilled into them.

[Shmurps]

I agree with casowner about education.

That's what we do at our store. Some listen and some don't.

The ones that don't care come back with a poorly bred, under age pup from PP.

They have just picked the pup up and come straight to us to do their shopping. They have been told nothing.

And they are the ones that come to us 6-12 months later wanting to get rid of their pup.

As for what is a puppy farm, A cruel and dirty facility, as for byb the same on a smaller scale.

[shortstep]

I really do support banning the selling of dogs and cats in pet shops. However I do not think it will make much difference to the problems associated with 'pet shop' puppies.

1. Poorly bred and poorly raised pups will still be available from the news paper, internet, farmers markets, notice board.

2. Too many people really think buying a pet is like buying a sweater. Right colour, trendy style and right price, I'll take it! And just like that sweater, when the novelty wears off, the sweater/pup can be gotten rid of.

3. Banning pet shop sales is pretty easy to do and regulate.

However banning the so called 'BYB' or 'puppy farms' can be tricky to define and tricky to legally do. Even regulating these dog breeders is difficult and I think the recent NSW dog breeding regulations as a direct result of the inability of the government to do something about the problem. these laws are not directed directly at puppy farmers or BYB, they are directed at anyone who breeds a pup that is for sale.

So I think it would be fine to ban pet shop sales but I do not think it would do much to solve the underlying and surrounding problems of the world of poorly bred and hastily bought dogs. I think if nothing else, pet shop selling should be banned for the protection of the mental and physical welfare of the pups.

Just some random thoughts on some surrounding issues. Sorry these ramble all over the place and I am too tired to sort them into good reading..LOL

The deck is being stacked against the world of purebred dogs. The intellectual uni point of view, here in Australia and around the world, is that purebred dogs are in poor shape. Even more threatening is that dog ownership in general is no longer considered appropriate in our future greener, higher density, earth friendly lifestyles envisioned by the evolved thinkers. We have all seen it, dogs are high carbon polluters. If want a pet get a chicken, keep it on the terrace of your high rise unit, eat the eggs and use the poo in the communal garden plot where you grow your own veggies after you ride your bike home from your downtown high rise office job. LOL Not funny is this really is the way the future is envisioned by many in positions to help make this a reality.

I think ANKC is one of the surrounding problems on a couple of issues. And these are areas that we can do something about.

Purebred dog breeders shoot themselves in the foot on a lot of these issues. Many are failing to make adjustments to the times. No one should breed dogs they do not like, but if they fail to breed dogs that meet the demands of the public and the larger society, then they can not expect the public to want their dogs or to care about the future of their dogs.

It is easy to say the oddle is junk, but junk is in the eye of the beholder. People paying 2000 for oddle evidently do not think they are junk. This fact says a lot, and it clearly shows that what people really value may not be what we thought they would value.

When looking at the perception the public has of purebred dogs vs the oddle.

One important question to answer is what do the dogs "I" breed offer to the new owners and do I present my dogs in such a way as to highlight these traits to the people who are looking for them. Example, if someone wants a pet for a family with a couple of children, their main concerns will be a dog that gets on good with their kids, low maintenance and healthy. Purebreds marketed as from champion show parents, conforming perfectly to the standard, excellent bone and head, show results and other things a breeder may hold dear, usually have little or no interest to the public pet owner. These days showing might even be considered a negative (pedigree dogs exposed). You will often hear a breeder saying I breed for a pup for myself and not for others. I think much of how the dogs are presented to the public comes from this point of view.

Contrasting this to the oddles, marketed as a friendly healthy low maintenance dog for the whole family, then add a few cute pics. This looks very attractive to the family. This is a what they understand and what they want to find in their dog. It is no wonder their mix breed pups are sought after. Perception is often more powerful than fact.

All though there are many fine ANKC dogs breeders, there are also a lot of really poor breeders. Unless we regulate our own breeders to the highest standards, we are not any better as any other class of dog breeder. When I say breed dogs to the highest standards, I believe that show ring needs to be devalued, where as health, temperament and structural suitability gain value. It seems at this point in time a worthless and unhelpful stance to argue that ANKC dog breeders are the only ones who should be allowed to or can breed a quality dog. Personally I think the world of showing dogs is slowly coming to an end and in the next 50 years will no longer exist, due to both fading interest in the dog world and animal rights pressures. Will this also be the end of purebred dogs? I hope not.

Edited July 7, 2010 by shortstep