In
Defense of Dog Breeders
How
Animal Rights Has Twisted Our Language
by
JOHN YATES
American
Sporting Dog Alliance
“You’re
a dog breeder!!!!!!!!!!!!”
In
today’s world, that is a very loaded statement. It’s more like an
accusation.
“I
told the television news reporter that I breed dogs,” a friend from
Dallas told me recently. “He looked at me like he thought I was a
harlot.”
Dog
owners have allowed the animal rights movement to redefine our language
in order to paint everything we do in the worst possible light. If we
say that we breed dogs, the looks we get ask us if we own a “puppy
mill” or if we are a “backyard breeder.”
If
we reply that we are a “hobby breeder,” someone immediately asks how we
can consider living creatures a hobby. Some of us try the word
“fancier.” We fool no one.
The
most pathetic response to the question is when we call ourselves
“responsible breeders.” Responsible to whom? Who defines “responsible”
and “irresponsible?” Some bureaucrat? A politician? Animal rights
cretins who say there is no such thing as a responsible breeder? Animal
rights fanatics would rather kill all animals than see someone love
them. In fact, that’s their plan.
If
we say we are not breeders, it makes us “pet hoarders.” We are tarred
as mentally ill people in need of psychotherapy.
The
entire language about dog ownership has been hijacked by the rhetoric
of the animal rights movement.
The
worst part is that we have allowed it to happen. We are too fearful and
wimpy to stand up for ourselves. We keep searching for inoffensive
euphemisms to describe what we do, so that we don’t open ourselves up
to attack.
By
doing that, however, we have engineered our own demise.
The
animal rights movement will not go away. Its agenda is to destroy our
right to own or raise animals. Animal rights groups have declared war
on all animal ownership, and they won’t stop until they either win or
we finally have the courage to stand up and defeat them.
They
have not taken that kind of power over us. We have given it away. We
have surrendered our beliefs to the enemy.
We
apologize for what we do. We make weak excuses for things like animal
shelter euthanasia, accidental matings, dog fighting and dangerous
dogs. We take at least part of the responsibility for these problems
onto our own shoulders, when in truth we have no responsibility at all
for creating them.
None
whatsoever!
I
am sick and tired of watching dog owners constantly apologize and
grovel, and allowing themselves to be put on the defensive.
Enough!
It’s time to stop sniveling about who we are and what we do.
Let
me state clearly and for the record: I am a dog breeder. I breed dogs.
I raise puppies. I like it. I’m very proud of it.
If
you don’t like it, you are free to take a flying leap. I don’t care
what you think of me or what I do.
I
raise two or three litters of English setter puppies a year. I wish I
could raise more puppies, but can’t figure out how to do it without
driving myself into bankruptcy.
My
dogs work for a living, just like I do. They have to be good at their
jobs, just like I do. If they aren’t good at their jobs, I don’t keep
them and I certainly don’t breed them.
They
are hunting dogs, and they have to be able to perform to a very
demanding standard of excellence to be worthy of breeding. They have to
meet the exacting standard of championship-quality performance in the
toughest competition.
They
are professional athletes.
Most
of them don’t make the cut. Those dogs make wonderful hunting
companions or family members.
I
have never had a dog spayed or neutered, except for medical reasons,
and I don’t intend to start now. If a dog is good enough for me to
keep, it is good enough to breed.
Nor
have I ever sold a puppy on a spay/neuter contract. With performance
dogs, it takes two or three years to know what you have. There is no
way that anyone can know the full potential or worthiness of a young
puppy. I hope every puppy that I sell will become a great one that is
worthy of being bred.
I
do not feel bad (and certainly do not feel guilty) if someone decides
to breed a dog from my kennel that I did not choose to keep for myself
when it was a puppy. It still will be a very nice dog, and I have
worked very hard on my breeding program for 35 years to assure that
very high quality genetics will be passed along and concentrated in any
dog that I sell.
On
occasion, I have a puppy that has a serious flaw. I don’t sell those
puppies, even though they would make many people very happy. I give
them away free to good homes, and the definition of a good home is mine
because it’s my puppy. I own it. You don’t.
My
responsibility is to the puppy. It is not to you, and it’s not to some
gelatinous glob called “society.” I consider myself to be personally
responsible for every puppy I raise, from birth until the day it dies.
It always has a home in my kennel, if its new owner can’t keep it or no
longer wants it.
That’s
a contract written in blood between the puppy and me. It’s a contract
written with a handshake with the puppy’s new owner.
I
laugh cynically when someone from the Humane Society of the United
States or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ask if I am a
responsible breeder. HSUS and PETA are two of the most vicious,
bloodthirsty and dishonest snake pits on Earth. Their moral credibility
is a negative number. PETA butchers more than 90-percent of the animals
it “rescues” every year, and HSUS supports programs and policies that
result in the needless deaths of hundreds of thousands of animals every
year.
By
now, I assume that I have pushed all of the buttons of the animal
rights crazies. I can hear them snort and see their pincurls flapping
in indignation. It makes my day.
Can’t
you hear them, too? They are calling me an exploiter of animals. They
are saying that I ruthlessly cull and manipulate the genetics of my
dogs. They saying that I make the exploited poor beasts work for a
living and live up to impossible standards. They will say that I do
this to feed and gratify my own fat ego. They will say that I sell them
for money and exploit them for personal gain. Then, of course, they
will say that I use them to viciously hunt innocent wild animals.
Terrible,
terrible me! My mother should have a son like this! She was such a nice
woman.
Well,
I plead guilty to all of the charges. Know what else? I don’t feel
guilty, not even a little bit. I do it. I like it. I feel good about it.
Now
I will speak in my own defense – as a dog breeder.
I
happen to love dogs. I love being around them. I love working with
them. I love watching a puppy grow up and discover its potential. I
love having the privilege of experiencing a truly great dog in its
prime. I love sharing supper with my dogs, wrestling with puppies, and
sacking out with them on the couch. I lose sleep when they get sick,
and work myself unmercifully to care for them. I spend almost all of
the money I have on them, and some money that I don’t have. My heart
breaks when they grow old and die. I have a dozen lifetimes worth of
beautiful memories.
What
do the animal rights freaks have? They have their ideology. They look
in the mirror and feel smug and self-righteous, as if God has
personally anointed them to protect animals from the likes of me.
What
they have is nothing at all. Utter sterility. A world devoid of life
and love.
They
can keep it.
My
life is filled with love and joy and beauty, and I owe most of it to my
dogs. They have helped to keep me sane when sanity was not a given.
They have given me courage on the days when all I wanted to do was lie
down and quit. They have given me strength to endure on the days when
all I wanted to do is run away and hide.
I
owe them my life.
The
animal rights folks are right. I ruthlessly cull and manipulate
genetics. To make the cut, my breeding dogs have had to live up to the
most exacting possible standards and pass the most strenuous tests.
I
am very proud of doing that.
The
result is that the vast majority of people who buy a puppy from me love
it. When I sell a puppy, chances are that it has found a home for the
rest of its life. The puppy will have a great chance of leading a
wonderful life. I produce puppies that make people happy to own them
and want to keep them. That’s my job as a breeder.
I
have done this through rigorous selection. My puppies today are the
result of 35 years of my stubborn insistence about never breeding a dog
that does not have a wonderful disposition, perfect conformation, great
intelligence, exceptional natural ability, breathtaking style and that
mysterious ingredient called genius.
Every
puppy born in my kennel has six or eight or 10 generations of my own
dogs in its pedigree. All of those ancestors possess a high level of
each of those desirable traits. I have raised, trained and grown old
with every dog listed in several generations of each puppy’s pedigree.
Simply
put, my puppies today are a lot nicer than my puppies of 35 years ago.
Today, there is a much higher percentage of good ones, a much lower
percentage of deficient ones, a much higher average of good qualities,
and a much higher percentage of true greatness emerging from my kennel
today.
That’s
what it means to be a breeder.
Does
that feed my ego? Yep. I like having my ego stroked. Don’t you? If you
don’t, you are in very deep trouble as a human being.
But
I’ll tell you what else it does. It makes for happier dogs. It makes
for dogs that lead better lives, find permanent families and homes, and
get to experience love in many forms.
It
also makes for healthier dogs. Generation after generation of perfect
functional conformation means that the dogs are less likely to get
injured, wear out or develop arthritis. Many generations of selection
for vigor, toughness and good health means that they are able to laugh
at the extremes of climate, weather and terrain.
I
also have virtually eliminated genetic health problems from my strain
of dogs. For example, hip dysplasia is the most common genetic problem
in English setters, afflicting a reported four-percent of the breed. In
the past 20 years, I have had only two questionable hip x-rays, which
both would be rated “fair” by the Orthopedic Foundation of America
(OFA). The last one was 10 years ago.
Yes,
I am very proud of being a breeder. I did that.
I
am proud, too, that I am producing dogs that are so intelligent that
it’s scary, so loyal that they can be your complete partner in the
field while also possessing the extreme independence needed to do their
job well, so loving that you want them with you every second of the
day, so bold and brazen that nothing bothers them, and just plain
drop-dead gorgeous to boot.
They
make me smile a lot. I think I make them smile, too.
But,
the animal rights whackos say I am doing it for the money. They accuse
me of exploiting animals for profit.
Yep.
Every chance I get. I am very happy when I am able to sell a puppy for
cold, hard cash. It makes me feel good.
It
makes me feel good because it shows me that someone appreciates the
work I am doing. It makes me feel good because I have earned it, and
earned it honestly.
My
only regret is that I have not made more money as a breeder. With all
of the sacrifices I have made and the hard work I have done, I should
be rolling in money.
Alas,
I am not.
It
has been years since I actually have made money on a litter of puppies.
Usually, I lose my shirt.
For
every puppy I sell, there is another one that I keep to evaluate, and a
couple of other ones that I am keeping for two or three years to
evaluate for their worthiness to breed. Then there are dogs that are in
competition, and that costs bushels of money, not to mention old dogs
that are retired and have a home here until they die of old age. Almost
a third of the dogs in my kennel are elderly and retired, and it takes
a lot of money to care for them.
It
takes money for dog food, supplies, veterinary bills, kennel licenses,
repairs, vehicle use for training and field trials, advertising,
internet, phone bills, and four pairs of good boots a year. It takes
money. Lots of money. Bundles of money.
Oh,
Lord, please help me to sell some more puppies!
Besides,
what’s wrong with making money? It is a rather fundamental American
value. Making money is something to be proud of, as long as it’s done
honestly.
Even
animal rights bozos have to eat. Someone has to make money to stuff
veggies down their gullets, and organic veggies are rather pricey. Most
working folks can’t afford them.
I
also can’t help but notice that most animal rights activists over the
age of 30 drive pretty fancy cars (we are talking about the Beamer set,
folks), live in rather fancy houses and dress very well indeed. I can’t
help but notice that many of the leaders of animal rights groups have
pretty cushy gigs, with high-end six-digit salaries, fancy offices, and
all the perks.
I
guess they are saying that it’s ok for them to make money by the
truckload, even if making money turns dog breeders into immoral greed
bags. There is no one in America who exploits dogs for as much money as
the paid leaders of animal rights groups. Their fat salaries depend on
having animal issues to exploit. If there were no animals for them to
exploit, they would have to get a real job.
It’s
a rather perplexing dual standard, don’t you think?
Well,
maybe it’s not perplexing after all. The only thing perplexing about
hypocrisy is that so many people can’t see through it.
My
next sin is making my dogs work for a living. The animal rights people
try to paint a picture of whipping dogs beyond endurance, exploiting
them, creating misery and causing unhappiness. The poor, downtrodden,
huddled masses. You know the tune.
Only
problem is, my dogs don’t agree. They love to work. They love their
jobs. The only time they are sad is when it is not their turn to work.
For my dogs, working is sheer joy and passion! They love every second
of it.
What
animal rights groups live for is creating imaginary victims. Helping
victims makes some people feel better about themselves and, of course,
it helps them to part with their money so that animal rights leaders
can live high on the hog. Oops. I mean high on the carrot. How callous
of me. I guess I’m just not a sensitive kind of guy.
Back
to the exploited masses of bird dogs. Try an experiment sometime. Read
an animal rights essay, and substitute the word “proletariat” for the
word “animal.” You will find that animal rights philosophy actually is
pure and straightforward Marxian doctrine.
I
guess my dogs are not natural Marxists. They love their jobs. They are
excited about their jobs. Their jobs make them very happy.
Animal
rights people can’t seem to grasp that people can feel that way about
their work, too. It’s how I feel about the very hard work of being a
dog breeder. It makes me happy.
Another
way of putting it is that both my dogs and my own example provide proof
that life is not pointless drudgery and exploitation. We provide living
proof that joy, beauty and personal fulfillment are possible in life.
I
just don’t think of those qualities when I think of the animal rights
fanatics I have known. They seem a rather sad and sorry lot to me. I’ll
take my dogs’ company any day.
Oh,
but the icing on the cake is that I use these poor exploited creatures
to hunt innocent birds. How terrible!
Hunting,
of course, is a subject of its own, and I won’t attempt to cover it
here.
Suffice
it to say that opposition to hunting flies in the face of a few million
years of human evolution, the entire balance of nature everywhere on
Earth, and common sense.
I
know one thing for certain. The fact that we have healthy populations
of most species of wild birds and animals today is only because hunters
have cared enough to support strong conservation measures. We have
preserved millions of acres of habitat that is vital to the survival of
many species, saved more millions of acres of wilderness from
development, supported the protection of endangered species everywhere,
and put our money where are mouths are.
Animal
rights groupies do nothing but blow hot air, when they aren’t too busy
destroying the land and the animals that live on it to create vast
wastelands of industrialized monoculture.
I
am proud to be a hunter, too.
It’s
time for every dog owner and breeder to stand up proudly and be counted.
Each
one of you has done far more to enhance the quality of life of both
people and dogs than all of the animal rights activists put together.
So
stand up and shout it to the rooftops!
Stop
crawling around on your bellies and apologizing. Your dogs deserve
better from you. You will just have to get a little tougher if you want
to live up to your dogs.
What
you are doing is right.
It’s
just that simple.
The
American Sporting Dog Alliance represents owners, breeders and
professionals who work with breeds of dogs that are used for hunting.
We are a grassroots movement working to protect the rights of dog
owners, and to assure that the traditional relationships between dogs
and humans maintains its rightful place in American society and life.
The
American Sporting Dog Alliance also needs your help so that we can
continue to work to protect the rights of dog owners. Your membership,
participation and support are truly essential to the success of our
mission. We are funded solely by the donations of our members, and
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