So what makes a backyard breeder a backyard breeder, and why is it bad? I everyone who breeds dogs in their backyard a bad breeder?
A backyard breeder is a person who breeds as a hobby or as a business, but can not or does not do so responsibly. You (or your neighbor) might be a BYB if:
- You do not have a vet
- Your animals do not have county licenses
- Your animals do not have current vaccinations (including rabies, which MUST be administered by a licensed, practicing vet)
- Your animals are not on other advisable medications like flea preventative if relevant to your area or heartworm tests/medications (which once again are only available from a vet!)
- You can not afford to feed all of the animals you have or cannot afford said medical care
- You do not get your animals examined before breeding them for genetic problems, physical problems, or general health
- You do not have a vet to call if an emergency C-section is needed
- You do not have space to appropriately quarantine new animals, moms, puppies, or in general to prevent communicable diseases
- You do not have the time to keep your living spaces for the animals clean and sanitary
- You do not have the appropriate breeding license if required by your area (in most cases this requires annual and surprise inspections to remain valid)
- You do not have a goal in breeding the animals - showing perhaps, but most importantly improving the breed
- You think having "papers" means a dog is automatically breedable
- You do not take into account the community's policies or where the animals wind up when you sell them
- You sell animals that are not fixed or vetted
Plenty of respectable breeders do so on their own property. That's not the issue here. A person who breeds animals responsibly rarely, in fact, I'd venture to say never, makes a profit. This goes for every animal I have ever seen bred, from mice to dogs and cats, to horses.
It's not a matter of honor, it's not like they are refusing a profit because it's the right thing to do, it's because breeding is EXPENSIVE.
There are vet bills. Exams. Checkups. Vaccinations and health care. There is food and space, housing considerations, grooming if necessary. You need to take care of every animal you have as though it's your own pet. Yeah...that costs A LOT OF MONEY.
When people ask $600 for a dog it's because they spent $700 on it and its mum. A responsible breeder doesn't breed an animal unless there is a reason to. It's not to sell as pets, it's to improve the breed, the temperament, the conformation, the health, every quality that makes a dog, cat, or horse excellent. A responsible breeder is up at 3:30 AM to help a momma horse give birth, a responsible breeder sleeps with a damned baby monitor by their bed in case the kittens start crying.
A responsible breeder is not at Tractor Supply, asking a girl with an adopted pit bull who just had leg surgery from a gunshot wound if he can breed her dog and if she has papers. He isn't saying he doesn't have a vet because they're too expensive, that he just breeds them to sell them as pets, that he has no idea the local shelter puts all pit bulls down.
I guess I was wondering why there were so many blue pit bulls showing up lately. Asshole.
In other news I got a call last night from my mother, who informed me the rabbit I'd had for the last ten years (and left in my hometown when I had to move for college a few years ago) was dying. He had been laying on his side, refusing food and only drinking water out of a spoon for the past three days. My mother had him put to sleep this morning.
He was ten years and two months old - the oldest rabbit the veterinary clinic had seen. He was a Californian we had adopted from a man whose children didn't want their Easter present anymore (an all-too-common tale) and was going to drop it off on the side of the road.
He was old and we all saw it coming. The vet said he hadn't been using his back legs because he had likely had a stroke. That's particularly interesting to me because I get several questions about mice who don't have spinal injuries but drag their back legs - it means there was nothing they could do for him, though. He'd lost two pounds in the previous months, and with his refusal of food, it was clear he was saying it was time.
Unfortunately when I got the call I was at work, and I had to take a couple of hours off to pull myself together. Knowing it's coming doesn't make it any easier to deal with, at least not for me. I'd lost my rat that morning, too, and I just couldn't handle it very well. I still cry when I think about it. Bunny was a family member. Our cat sat by his cage with him day in and day out until my mom took him to the vet.
He will be so missed.
-Mouse
http://www.pet-loss.net/
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