Do you think the spaniel club is telling the truth?

Wow. That was an amazing article! Thank you for sharing.

As an animal shelter volunteer who is also a breeder of high quality, pure bred show rabbits, I must say that again and again as I read that article I thought "Yes, that is so true." or "Yup, that is exactly the way it is in our shelter".

I have the benefit of seeing things from many vantage points. I see the way our shelter is run, work with animal rescues, work with potential adopters, see the types of animals that come in and for what reasons they show up at the shelter. I also am familiar with the show world and see the great demand for carefully bred, healthy animals from both exhibitors and "strictly pet" owners.

Your article posted rings true, every line of it. Our shelter, thank goodness (and management) has one of the lowest euthanasia rates in the country, I am told. Shelters call from all over asking how we are doing it. Well, we don't hord animals. We share them. A lot of them. Many of our animals go "out the back door", so to speak, to rescues who rely on those animals to bring them their income. Yes, "non-profit" rescues are in the business of selling animals. Most get their help from good hearted people who volunteer their time and money to foster, transport, sit (sometimes) for hours at the vet's office with animals. But, the founders of these organizations make their living off of these homeless animals. Donations, adoptions fees, and grants not only pay for meds and pet food but also go to pay someone's yearly salery. Yes, someone's salary depends on reselling these pets.

And where do they get them? Shelters and individuals who give up there pets. lol. Many times the rescues get paid to take them so that they can get paid AGAIN to resell them. :)

Anyway, thanks to an extension of a local rabbit rescue, we can not meet the wants of our own adopters for guinea pigs because this rescue comes in and takes all we can give them. This same rescue also sends rabbits to new homes clear across the country because the demand is that high. And, of course, this same rescue has PETA articles on their website and militantly instills in the heads of their volunteers, adopters, and anyone else they can tie down to listen to them that they HAVE to save these cute fluffy bunnies because of the evil *breeders*. They drill in half-truths and flat out lies to get their agenda across and have not qualms about it. Yes, I've spoken with otherwise intelligent rescue people about them teaching things that are actually not true and they say they say that if it "drills in" their message that they think they should do it. Wow.

I often here the question "Where are all the dogs?" when we have families come in and expect to see every kennel filled with dogs. We in fact get dogs out to new families so fast that our behaviorist and vets fall behind and we only have 6 dogs out for the public to view. We are a new, large, state-of-the-art shelter and people sometimes drive a good distance to see our animals when they can't find what they are looking for in the surrounding cities. They really are surprised to see such a small selection. We tell them to keep checking our website for a pet that interests them and then come in quickly so they'll have a better chance of getting that dog.

The cats are a little different story. We do have a good trap/spay/release program at our shelter but we still have kittens lining the back hallways during "kitten season". Many cats and kitten are put down but again, many also go out to rescues. We ARE thankful for the rescues and I feel that our shelter's relationship with the local rescues is integral to our successfully keeping euthanasia rates so low.

My biggest pet peeve is the ridiculous, flat out lies that many groups such as PETA and smaller PETA like organizations rutinely tell the public. Ah, well, that is where my volunteering AND being a very good, reputable breeder has been able to help (on a small scale, anyway).

The founder of that rabbit rescue I mentioned earlier (she does a lot of good, too, I know), well, she and I have had great conversations and have taught each other many good things. She often tells me "Oh, you are one of the 'good' ones, Amber". I always tell her, they are mostly all like me (ARBA exhibitors, not bybs). However, she still has asked me never to tell any of those that know her that I breed my rabbits. Hmmm. Somehow, that would make her message not as strong.

As an exhibitor of my own pets (rabbits) I also breed them and enjoy it tremendously. I breed for quality and temperaments that is better than in previous generations. I breed knowledgeably, with a purpose and a plan for my kits. As far as the demand, I can hardly fill the wants of those on my waiting list (all other exhibitors) let alone those who want "strictly pet" rabbits. As my breed normally has litters of 1 - 5 kits, and breeding is much more than just sticking two rabbits together, the numbers we produce each year is excruciatingly low. The most recent addition to my waiting list is wanting a kit that she HOPES to get by this October. Because the got on the list so far in advance, she MAY get what she wants. My point to all this is, as a breeder of quality animals, I definitely see that there is certainly a demand for pets (yup, show rabbits are ALSO pets) and there is not always the animals to satisfy that want.

Sorry for the HUGE novel. I am just very passionate about this subject and am ALL for education through telling the TRUTH and letting people make their own decisions. No lies needed. I loved the article and agree with it whole-heartedly. Now, if there were only more intelligent and honest people out there to take the time to wade through all the propaganda to find the truth. :) There will always be a need for shelters but we do our countries families and animals a great injustice when we fudge the statistics, import other country's dogs, tell flat out lies to the public, campaign hard for illogical compulsory neuter legislation. Much better to preach the truth and run our shelters more efficiently and with better animal management knowedge.

I'm not sure what you're implying, but it isn not the intention of rescues to provide you with a large selection! They practically celebrate whenever they don't have a lot of animals. If you're talking about a a breed specific rescue, than yes, it may take quite a while until someone happens to want to give away their purebred, and place the dog into their shelter. But it is the honest truth - shelters are overflowing with animals. Most of the dogs that stay in the shelter longer are large or mix bred. Smaller dogs, and especially purebreeds, always have a higher demand and get snatched up pretty quickly.

I always talk to myself. I sometimes argue with myself (you know ... at those times when it's hard to make a decision and you wish your mother was around to talk things through). I've lived alone most of my life and sometimes I like to hear a voice in the house :) I also find that thinking out loud helps me to keep focused on the issue. I don't take any notice of 'old wives' tales'. And when people infer that I'm a little nuts, I laugh. I am the happiest person I know.