I don't want to specifically point out the person who recently sent me a mouse question, because I don't want anyone to be afraid to ask for my help with any animal situation, big or small. I'm upset about it, though. Not just it, of course, but it's one of the things getting under my skin tonight (it seems like everything I write about lately is dark - but it's a bad economy, and that means neglect and surrendering is at a huge high).
The person who wrote me told me she had one mouse returned to her after traveling with them, who began to show signs of extreme illness. She dropped weight drastically, hunched, and refused food and water. Eventually the questioner took her to the vet to be euthanized.
The questioner wrote that the mouse had Sendai virus, one of many things that can cause an upper respiratory tract infection (URI) in rodents. One of MANY, MANY THINGS. The Merck Vet Manual has this to say about Sendai:
"Sendai virus is an RNA paramyxovirus of the Parainfluenza family. It is highly contagious in mice and rats and causes an acute respiratory infection with no carrier state in immunocompetent animals. Sendai virus is transmitted by aerosols and direct contact with infected animals. Infection is usually subclinical, although sick animals may show signs of stunted growth and respiratory involvement with secondary bacterial pathogens. Gross lesions may include patchy lung consolidation and mild interstitial pneumonia. Perivascular lymphocytic cuffing is often observed on microscopic lung sections. Diagnosis is by ELISA, IFA, or PCR. Infection is generally self-limiting."
From that information, one might be more than a little curious how the questioner knew the exact cause of the URI. It came on quickly, and I don't believe they saw a vet before putting her down, so I'd be surprised if any of the diagnostic tests had been performed. If one were very, very curious what KIND of URI caused a mouse's decline in health, one could theoretically run a post-mortem histopathology, but I doubt she found a vet willing to do that and paid the upwards of $100 after euthanasia to discover which virus or bacteria made the mouse sick.
And on top of that - URIs are not that simple. There doesn't HAVE to be just one thing causing the symptoms. When an immune system is preoccupied, whether with traveling, stress, or a primary, subclinical infection, it's very easy to pick up a secondary infection that may or may not be the actual cause of the symptoms and damage.
There were other mice sharing the cage and travel with the mouse that got sick, so I strongly recommended treating the surviving mice with an antibiotic, just to be on the safe side. I then discovered that not only were they already showing symptoms of infection, but she had "already tried that" to no effect. Mmkay. First of all, there isn't just one antibiotic. There's one, MAYBE two you can get OTC, and then there are a few others to try via prescription pad. Second, what did she try? Did she try it for long enough, or did she cause resistance? How long have those symptoms have been showing if she's already given them meds AND given up on them? At this point, I'm getting more concerned.
The questioner has resigned to let the surviving mice "live out their lives" without more meds.
Look, that's not how it works in mice with URIs. They might fight it off, or they might die horribly and slowly. URIs can wipe out ENTIRE COLONIES. With a long incubation period in most of them, right on up to three weeks, you can cross contaminate once and lose every mouse in your home. That's why everyone pushes isolation so strongly - it's very serious. Why take a chance with a loved pet?
I want to tell the questioner they cannot possibly know which URI(s) could be affecting the remaining mice, but I don't want to offend her or imply she may have unnecessarily put down her pet. It's kind of delicate. But it pisses me off.
If you aren't going to listen to my advice, and you're going to tell me you already know what's wrong with them and what you will do...why did you come to me in the first place?
Then there's this. BEWARE - these photographs pull no punches. Her camera goes behind the scenes of animal overpopulation and overcrowded kill shelters. I love and hate these.
I was going to put up a pet of the day, but I'm so nauseated right now, so...horrified? Grateful? Miserable? That I just can't. I go to the Pawsitively page and all I see is album after album. There are so many pets emotionlessly posted as a last ditch effort at adoption. Instead of a photo and a story, now it's an album of 80 nameless dogs and cats with strict rules on tagging and pulling. Be prompt, or the animal is destroyed. I just....it's so sickening, I can't handle it right now. I go home and I see my fosters, my rescues, my babies, and I don't know why they got to be lucky. I don't know if they ARE lucky.
When the person who helped you rescue six tiny lives tells you if they have to go back to that drooling, miserable, horrible woman who would have let them die in her front yard and scooped them into a trash bag like dead leaves then "so be it"...you know shit is bad. You know it's the end of the rope. You know there is no more help left to offer, and you know you won't say no if asked.
I hope finding my soul was worth it to them, their people, and the ones I can't save.
-Mouse
Showing posts with label Breeding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Breeding. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
A Whatsa-Poo? Huh?
I think Basset Hounds are the goofiest looking dogs ever. I mean...just look at them.
That's the picture I think of every time someone mentions them, even though I know I've seen plenty of less floppy, less mid-motion-jowly-wobbly basset hounds. ...Like this one:
Okay but really...they ARE goofy-lookin' dogs, and that's okay. They were bred to look the way they do. A friend of mine has a tricolor female bitch who happened to go into her very first heat at two years old, and guess who the daddy was?
A border collie labrador mix.
Lord.
Can you picture the puppies she might have? (Might because she hasn't taken her to a vet to confirm pregnancy yet)
Bordersset Colloundor. Bassador Collie. Just...gah. I'm sure they'd be adorable, but I'm also positive they're going to need to be fixed ASAP. I warned her to have a vet on call in case of a C-section. Yipers!
You know the frustrating part, though? The hound has no vetting whatsoever. She doesn't have tags, is outdoor-indoor in the country, no rabies, no distemper/parvo, no heartworm. I fear for the puppies, but really, I fear for the whole situation. If someone can't afford to get their dog spayed or basic vetting, how is someone going to afford healthcare for a whole litter of puppies?
I'm knocking on wood that she isn't prego after all, but I'm knocking hard enough to bloody my knuckles that she doesn't wind up taking them in a box to the hardware store and giving them away like she told me was her initial plan. Not fixed, not dewormed, just pulling them once they stopped nursing and taking them to the parking lot.
But would it be that much of a gamble though? I mean, look at the alternative. I know we all fall on hard times, especially lately, and getting your pet vetted the second their vaccination expires isn't always possible. Sometimes, myself included, you gotta wait a couple of paychecks. That's hard, but that's life. But to NEVER take your dog in to the vet, her whole life? To leave her outside unprotected? I don't get it. Your kiddos may always come first, but doggies are commitments. :( I'm not blaming her - she has her plate full, it's just hard to see, is all.
If she has puppies, I promise to post photos of the adorable little ugly-butts.
-Mouse
That's the picture I think of every time someone mentions them, even though I know I've seen plenty of less floppy, less mid-motion-jowly-wobbly basset hounds. ...Like this one:
Okay but really...they ARE goofy-lookin' dogs, and that's okay. They were bred to look the way they do. A friend of mine has a tricolor female bitch who happened to go into her very first heat at two years old, and guess who the daddy was?
A border collie labrador mix.
Lord.
Can you picture the puppies she might have? (Might because she hasn't taken her to a vet to confirm pregnancy yet)
Bordersset Colloundor. Bassador Collie. Just...gah. I'm sure they'd be adorable, but I'm also positive they're going to need to be fixed ASAP. I warned her to have a vet on call in case of a C-section. Yipers!
You know the frustrating part, though? The hound has no vetting whatsoever. She doesn't have tags, is outdoor-indoor in the country, no rabies, no distemper/parvo, no heartworm. I fear for the puppies, but really, I fear for the whole situation. If someone can't afford to get their dog spayed or basic vetting, how is someone going to afford healthcare for a whole litter of puppies?
I'm knocking on wood that she isn't prego after all, but I'm knocking hard enough to bloody my knuckles that she doesn't wind up taking them in a box to the hardware store and giving them away like she told me was her initial plan. Not fixed, not dewormed, just pulling them once they stopped nursing and taking them to the parking lot.
But would it be that much of a gamble though? I mean, look at the alternative. I know we all fall on hard times, especially lately, and getting your pet vetted the second their vaccination expires isn't always possible. Sometimes, myself included, you gotta wait a couple of paychecks. That's hard, but that's life. But to NEVER take your dog in to the vet, her whole life? To leave her outside unprotected? I don't get it. Your kiddos may always come first, but doggies are commitments. :( I'm not blaming her - she has her plate full, it's just hard to see, is all.
If she has puppies, I promise to post photos of the adorable little ugly-butts.
-Mouse
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Got BYB?
You don't have to have 150 animals to be a backyard breeder. You don't have to be a puppy mill to be one, either. You could have a breeder's license from your county, only breed dogs with "papers," and only have two litters a year and still be a BYB.
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:
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/
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/
Friday, March 11, 2011
The Case of the Prego Squeakers
I finally have something vettish to talk about here, and of course, I didn't even learn it in my classes. Ah well!
So I answer questions on AllExperts.com about mice. Why do I do this? Because mice basically rawk. Also, because I've spent the past couple of years absorbing every piece of information about them I could get my hands on, from breeding forums to books on genetics and showing, to papers, seminars, and texts from the Jackson Lab. I worked with them in a lab, I studied colony management in my free time, I bred them in my office, and I still keep them as pets. I even attempted to do my own research on a color gene before I realized how difficult that idea is without money or a lab. I'm writing a book on them.
Maybe it started when I kept one or two at a time as pets in high school, or maybe it started before that when I'd play with the ones at the pet shop. Or maybe it really started later than that, when I realized how poorly informed feeder breeders were and felt a desire to light and spread the wildfire of ethical mouse breeding for food. Or maybe the real beginning was the first time I answered a mouse question on Yahoo! Answers and got a response telling me that I'd saved their mouse's life. I think that moment was when I decided to be a vet tech, or even a vet someday, too. That is a powerful feeling.
Whatever - whenever it started, I wound up here and now, still studying, and now helping other people online.
I get mostly idiotic questions. A lot of people write in asking things they could easily have googled, or asking how to dig themselves out of a very messy hole they made by pairing mice before they had any idea why they were even doing it. I answer every question the best that I can, because it doesn't matter to the mice how they got there, and the more information I can spread the more comfortable those people's mice will be. I almost never get cool genetics questions, and most of the time if genetics are brought up it's something like:
If you're brand new to mouse breeding that IS a hard question. But all it takes is a little research to figure the answer out. AND, why would you ask me that after you've already bred them? Why would you breed them if you don't even have a goal? It's even harder to answer, though, without going back to the beginnings of "what is a dominant gene?" and "what is albino?" I can't just say the doe is c/c and her other loci will determine the color of the offspring. It's times like this I just want to answer:
"Black. THEY WILL ALL BE BLACK."
No, they won't all be black. It just gets frustrating.
Anyways, today I got asked the COOLEST QUESTION OF ALL TIME. And she had no idea she was asking it, either!
Okay, so she had written me awhile back wanting to know if it was safe to breed her. We determined it would be, and went over all the possible things that could go wrong so she'd be prepared. What she didn't tell me was actually what caused the problem, though.
This time when she wrote in she was worried because mum had bled about 17 days into pregnancy. She "bled out," but hadn't been presenting a big prego belly or anything, and was now discharging a clear goo. What I wished she'd told me before was that her mother and another mouse related to her had gone through the exact same thing, only to have a small litter a few days later.
It took me a few seconds to realize this, because at first I was thinking regular old complications, a different pain causing her not to groom up the discharge/blood or a premature birthing, or a non-pregnancy related issue. But then it hit me - lethal genes.
Some genes in mice are lethal. The mice will develop to a certain point, start to express the genes (if they received it from both parents), and then pass away. Sometimes this happens shortly after they are born, but with many lethal genes, they die in the uterus. If they die soon enough they can be reabsorbed, but if they die later into the term, they need to be expelled in order to protect the mom and the other pups from infection due to decomposing in the womb.
She was getting smaller litters with excessive bleeding and discharge a few days before birthing. I'm about 99% positive her mice were having normal litters but losing several of them before they were born, making it LOOK like they were having one or two pups when really, those were the only pups who did not inherit the deadly genes or gene combo.
It's unfortunate, but it's better than finding out she couldn't pass the litter, or wasn't pregnant but had a terrible GI problem, especially when you consider the fact that none of her local vets take mice seriously and offer to put them down for her any time she comes to them with a question!
And if you ask me? It's cool as hell. I've NEVER run into lethal genes before, except the immunodeficiency problems associated with satin mice. And even then, my only problem with them (thank goodness!) was one premature litter that all survived and thrived thanks to momma Emma (RIP) being basically amazing! :)
-Mouse
Miss you, Emma girl.
So I answer questions on AllExperts.com about mice. Why do I do this? Because mice basically rawk. Also, because I've spent the past couple of years absorbing every piece of information about them I could get my hands on, from breeding forums to books on genetics and showing, to papers, seminars, and texts from the Jackson Lab. I worked with them in a lab, I studied colony management in my free time, I bred them in my office, and I still keep them as pets. I even attempted to do my own research on a color gene before I realized how difficult that idea is without money or a lab. I'm writing a book on them.
Maybe it started when I kept one or two at a time as pets in high school, or maybe it started before that when I'd play with the ones at the pet shop. Or maybe it really started later than that, when I realized how poorly informed feeder breeders were and felt a desire to light and spread the wildfire of ethical mouse breeding for food. Or maybe the real beginning was the first time I answered a mouse question on Yahoo! Answers and got a response telling me that I'd saved their mouse's life. I think that moment was when I decided to be a vet tech, or even a vet someday, too. That is a powerful feeling.
Whatever - whenever it started, I wound up here and now, still studying, and now helping other people online.
I get mostly idiotic questions. A lot of people write in asking things they could easily have googled, or asking how to dig themselves out of a very messy hole they made by pairing mice before they had any idea why they were even doing it. I answer every question the best that I can, because it doesn't matter to the mice how they got there, and the more information I can spread the more comfortable those people's mice will be. I almost never get cool genetics questions, and most of the time if genetics are brought up it's something like:
"If I breed my white mouse with red eyes to a colored mouse what colors will the babies come out? Because I did that. So what color will the babies be?"
If you're brand new to mouse breeding that IS a hard question. But all it takes is a little research to figure the answer out. AND, why would you ask me that after you've already bred them? Why would you breed them if you don't even have a goal? It's even harder to answer, though, without going back to the beginnings of "what is a dominant gene?" and "what is albino?" I can't just say the doe is c/c and her other loci will determine the color of the offspring. It's times like this I just want to answer:
"Black. THEY WILL ALL BE BLACK."
No, they won't all be black. It just gets frustrating.
Anyways, today I got asked the COOLEST QUESTION OF ALL TIME. And she had no idea she was asking it, either!
Okay, so she had written me awhile back wanting to know if it was safe to breed her. We determined it would be, and went over all the possible things that could go wrong so she'd be prepared. What she didn't tell me was actually what caused the problem, though.
This time when she wrote in she was worried because mum had bled about 17 days into pregnancy. She "bled out," but hadn't been presenting a big prego belly or anything, and was now discharging a clear goo. What I wished she'd told me before was that her mother and another mouse related to her had gone through the exact same thing, only to have a small litter a few days later.
It took me a few seconds to realize this, because at first I was thinking regular old complications, a different pain causing her not to groom up the discharge/blood or a premature birthing, or a non-pregnancy related issue. But then it hit me - lethal genes.
Some genes in mice are lethal. The mice will develop to a certain point, start to express the genes (if they received it from both parents), and then pass away. Sometimes this happens shortly after they are born, but with many lethal genes, they die in the uterus. If they die soon enough they can be reabsorbed, but if they die later into the term, they need to be expelled in order to protect the mom and the other pups from infection due to decomposing in the womb.
She was getting smaller litters with excessive bleeding and discharge a few days before birthing. I'm about 99% positive her mice were having normal litters but losing several of them before they were born, making it LOOK like they were having one or two pups when really, those were the only pups who did not inherit the deadly genes or gene combo.
It's unfortunate, but it's better than finding out she couldn't pass the litter, or wasn't pregnant but had a terrible GI problem, especially when you consider the fact that none of her local vets take mice seriously and offer to put them down for her any time she comes to them with a question!
And if you ask me? It's cool as hell. I've NEVER run into lethal genes before, except the immunodeficiency problems associated with satin mice. And even then, my only problem with them (thank goodness!) was one premature litter that all survived and thrived thanks to momma Emma (RIP) being basically amazing! :)
-Mouse
Miss you, Emma girl.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Bumper Sticka
It's here!
A little while back I made a bumper sticker using Zazzle. I saw it in a store, and it was brilliant yellow with two "yuck" faces and said "Friends don't let friends fund H$U$." Then I found the customize button.
I used a photo of a dog I transported from shelter-to-home a little bit ago, messed with it a bit, and voila:
For those of you wondering, the Zazzle store is woofnwhinny (and it's not my store).
I'm desperately hoping it isn't interpreted that I hate dogs and people shouldn't pay for them, ha. What I meant when I made it (and before I clicked the order button and realized it could be misinterpreted) is that people who want to help dogs shouldn't attempt to do so via funding the HSUS.
I've always found myself fighting the HSUS when they situate themselves against things like keeping pets, transporting big snakes, complaining about farming or science, or like the current battle, demanding that chickens not be in cages of any size despite the prevalence of disease in non-segregated birds. I never see any science behind their arguments, and why should they give any? They have always seemed an organization founded externally on blind passion and internally on dollar signs.
In any case, disagreeing on core methods of animal treatment and welfare is just the reason we disagree. Why do I hate them, though? I hate them because they make life more difficult for animals. They start problems and don't finish them, leaving messes for unfunded and unaided shelters to clean up. They take dollars away from needy rescuers by misrepresenting themselves. It's that kind of playing dirty that has no place in the world of animal care.
That fact is widely unknown here. I don't have anything to give (more than what I am now) to my local animal community, so I'm giving knowledge. Here the majority of people still believe the commercials and ads - that if you give money to the HSUS they use it to give pets blankets and food. In reality, they ramble on about what a great, reformed guy Vick is and lobby, lobby, lobby against pet and livestock ownership without ever having gotten dirty themselves. Oh yes, I'm passionate.
You are 100% welcome to do your own research and make up your own mind on the HSUS. I am NOT telling anybody what to believe, just ranting about my own thoughts. If you didn't know anything about what they do before now, let my crazy ramblings get you googling a little about how they really spend your cash. Just as HSUS's own website is its own end of the spectrum (biased source - pro-HSUS), Humanewatch.org is a website on my end of the spectrum (biased source - anti-HSUS). Never, ever trust one source - go read everything you can!
Oh, side-note - did you know French bulldogs can't reproduce? I didn't! Just learned that the other day. All the puppies come from artificial insemination. I just think that's really cool.
It makes me think about the topic of dog breeding. The more I associate myself with people heavily involved in rescue*, the more I find myself standing alone in a crowd of people thoroughly AGAINST animal breeding. That is not me, that is not my view. I do understand that by looking simply at the numbers, one could believe that NO breeding should continue EVER because we clearly have enough. This is like taking guns away from people with gun licenses - only the people who have them illegally will be left with them. Do you want the illegal, under-the-radar, inhumane backyard breeders to be the only ones cranking out puppies? Really?
There are absolutely responsible, ethical breeders of dogs and cats. The dogs you see at huge dog shows with perfect conformations and health, those are from good breeders. Their dogs wind up at shows, are only bred if they are the lowest risk with something great to ADD to the breed. Good breeders only pair animals when they have a valuable way to improve the offspring. If they were forced to stop, not only would a ton of people have their talents and callings taken away from them, dogs and cats would be taken away from all of us. You'd either have the most rotten, deformed, unworthy, feral animals taking over the genetic pool, or you'd succeed in your mission and drive cats and dogs off the planet entirely.
I'm not anti-breeding. I think what we've done with most dog and cat breeds is perfected animals for a purpose. Working animals, companion animals, animals that coexist the best with the variety of human populations of which we consist. Every time I see someone bash breeders as a whole and insist NO animal should be bred, I wince. It's stupidity. It isn't thinking for yourself - it's seeing too many needy animals put down and searching out a scapegoat.
Oh well. I've never bought from a breeder, but that's because I'm pretty darned poor. That, and what would I do with an impressively bred animal? Nothing to better the breed, that's fo sho, which puts them on the SAME (not lower) level as shelter pets. Just way more 'spensive. And with a more clear health history.
Honestly, if I were to buy an animal from a breeder, it'd probably be a mouse. Mice have their own problem though - everyone breeds mice with unknown histories willy nilly but the amazing, long-bred lines are kept strictly to themselves. Breeders never sell those mice to the public - only to other breeders with whose practices they agree. I get irked at that, too, but then I get questions from people who wonder why their mouse pups are all dying and if they should breed mom again and then I understand why. *rolls eyes*
Okay, rant over!
-Mouse
*see: crazy people. Don't get me wrong, I think people who rescue are caring, amazing people, but every single one I have ever met is a little bit crazy. Or a lot crazy. You see what humans are capable of doing to animals, and how some people view them, and you lose a little faith in them. It just changes you. I'm going to do my best to not go nutty, but when you work in animal rescue, you kind of start to think of them like your children. And who wouldn't go a little crazy when somebody does the things to your children that people do to dogs and cats?
A little while back I made a bumper sticker using Zazzle. I saw it in a store, and it was brilliant yellow with two "yuck" faces and said "Friends don't let friends fund H$U$." Then I found the customize button.
I used a photo of a dog I transported from shelter-to-home a little bit ago, messed with it a bit, and voila:
For those of you wondering, the Zazzle store is woofnwhinny (and it's not my store).
I'm desperately hoping it isn't interpreted that I hate dogs and people shouldn't pay for them, ha. What I meant when I made it (and before I clicked the order button and realized it could be misinterpreted) is that people who want to help dogs shouldn't attempt to do so via funding the HSUS.
I've always found myself fighting the HSUS when they situate themselves against things like keeping pets, transporting big snakes, complaining about farming or science, or like the current battle, demanding that chickens not be in cages of any size despite the prevalence of disease in non-segregated birds. I never see any science behind their arguments, and why should they give any? They have always seemed an organization founded externally on blind passion and internally on dollar signs.
In any case, disagreeing on core methods of animal treatment and welfare is just the reason we disagree. Why do I hate them, though? I hate them because they make life more difficult for animals. They start problems and don't finish them, leaving messes for unfunded and unaided shelters to clean up. They take dollars away from needy rescuers by misrepresenting themselves. It's that kind of playing dirty that has no place in the world of animal care.
That fact is widely unknown here. I don't have anything to give (more than what I am now) to my local animal community, so I'm giving knowledge. Here the majority of people still believe the commercials and ads - that if you give money to the HSUS they use it to give pets blankets and food. In reality, they ramble on about what a great, reformed guy Vick is and lobby, lobby, lobby against pet and livestock ownership without ever having gotten dirty themselves. Oh yes, I'm passionate.
You are 100% welcome to do your own research and make up your own mind on the HSUS. I am NOT telling anybody what to believe, just ranting about my own thoughts. If you didn't know anything about what they do before now, let my crazy ramblings get you googling a little about how they really spend your cash. Just as HSUS's own website is its own end of the spectrum (biased source - pro-HSUS), Humanewatch.org is a website on my end of the spectrum (biased source - anti-HSUS). Never, ever trust one source - go read everything you can!
Oh, side-note - did you know French bulldogs can't reproduce? I didn't! Just learned that the other day. All the puppies come from artificial insemination. I just think that's really cool.
It makes me think about the topic of dog breeding. The more I associate myself with people heavily involved in rescue*, the more I find myself standing alone in a crowd of people thoroughly AGAINST animal breeding. That is not me, that is not my view. I do understand that by looking simply at the numbers, one could believe that NO breeding should continue EVER because we clearly have enough. This is like taking guns away from people with gun licenses - only the people who have them illegally will be left with them. Do you want the illegal, under-the-radar, inhumane backyard breeders to be the only ones cranking out puppies? Really?
There are absolutely responsible, ethical breeders of dogs and cats. The dogs you see at huge dog shows with perfect conformations and health, those are from good breeders. Their dogs wind up at shows, are only bred if they are the lowest risk with something great to ADD to the breed. Good breeders only pair animals when they have a valuable way to improve the offspring. If they were forced to stop, not only would a ton of people have their talents and callings taken away from them, dogs and cats would be taken away from all of us. You'd either have the most rotten, deformed, unworthy, feral animals taking over the genetic pool, or you'd succeed in your mission and drive cats and dogs off the planet entirely.
I'm not anti-breeding. I think what we've done with most dog and cat breeds is perfected animals for a purpose. Working animals, companion animals, animals that coexist the best with the variety of human populations of which we consist. Every time I see someone bash breeders as a whole and insist NO animal should be bred, I wince. It's stupidity. It isn't thinking for yourself - it's seeing too many needy animals put down and searching out a scapegoat.
Oh well. I've never bought from a breeder, but that's because I'm pretty darned poor. That, and what would I do with an impressively bred animal? Nothing to better the breed, that's fo sho, which puts them on the SAME (not lower) level as shelter pets. Just way more 'spensive. And with a more clear health history.
Honestly, if I were to buy an animal from a breeder, it'd probably be a mouse. Mice have their own problem though - everyone breeds mice with unknown histories willy nilly but the amazing, long-bred lines are kept strictly to themselves. Breeders never sell those mice to the public - only to other breeders with whose practices they agree. I get irked at that, too, but then I get questions from people who wonder why their mouse pups are all dying and if they should breed mom again and then I understand why. *rolls eyes*
Okay, rant over!
-Mouse
*see: crazy people. Don't get me wrong, I think people who rescue are caring, amazing people, but every single one I have ever met is a little bit crazy. Or a lot crazy. You see what humans are capable of doing to animals, and how some people view them, and you lose a little faith in them. It just changes you. I'm going to do my best to not go nutty, but when you work in animal rescue, you kind of start to think of them like your children. And who wouldn't go a little crazy when somebody does the things to your children that people do to dogs and cats?
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