Yes, it clearly varies by region. In the northeast, most all dogs are spayed or neutered, except those owned by people who intentionally breed them. And we have very few mutts, except for those shipped in from the south or from other countries.
When I lived near a farm we adopted one of those spontaneous kittens. The farmer put out boiled potatoes for them, and they fought to get to the potatoes. (That cat always had issues with food, and could never share a dish with another cat.) I asked them why they didn’t spay the females. The farmwife said, “we’ve spayed our (inside) cats, but it’s too expensive to spay all the other cats.”
Unfortunately, there are no national laws about puppy mills, only state or local regulations.
That means that puppy mills don’t shut down, they just move to a friendlier state.
And then it means that people drive to those states to get their puppies. People certainly seem to be willing to drive halfway (or even all the way) across the country to get their dog.
Stands to reason. The things people are told to do to be responsible with dogs would eventually result in a lot fewer dogs. More than most places in the US, people in MN (and the upper Midwest in general) tend to follow the rules.
Here in northern NJ it’s a modified version. People who want a rescue dog of ‘breeds’ (using the term loosely) mainly popular with the upper middle class often have to import them from the South. Few people are privately breeding or having accidental dog pregnancies with those dogs anymore. If you want a ‘pit bull’ OTOH, there are loads of them in inner city shelters, just outside walking distance for us, and not that far away even from the burbs. We got a ‘pit bull’ the first time because we wanted to give a local hard luck dog a break and didn’t care what type, though now we’d never get anything else.
Needless to say spay/neuter is also related to the dangerous dog problem, though actual breed is not related by any scientific evidence, and it’s entirely ridiculous to attribute it to the general appearance of mixed breed dogs, which almost all shelter dogs are. A very high % of fatal or serious dog attacks on people involve unfixed males as sole attackers or part of a group. Hardly any involve lone spayed females.
I seriously doubt puppy mills “just” move to a different state. Moving isn’t cheap and puppy mills tend to be small businesses - which means they are run by someone who has ties to their region. I mean, some do, but I’d really like to see statistics that would lead me to believe that “most” do - or even a significant percentage.
Who says you can’t? Christ on a pogo stick, man up and google ‘corgi rescue’. It took me less than 10 seconds to find one withing 25 miles of where I live.
The idea that ‘we’re running out of dogs’! is alarmist crap and deserves all the mockery we can drop on it.
I can’t find stats, and I don’t know how they would be compiled, as it’s not something that is readily tracked, but here’s an agreeing concern:
A bit more digging may find more, but I’m going more on what I am told by the people who run puppy mill rescues in my area. They know some of these operations, and do track them as they move from state to state.
Sure, a backyard breeder who finds themselves with dozens of dogs isn’t going to relocate, but there are serious operations that make millions of dollars off of selling these dogs, and they will do what the need to to stay in business. As many of my clients are willing to drive hundreds of miles just to see a dog, geography is not really a problem, and regulations about importing a dog into a state are nearly non-existent for private individuals. Some states have laws about where pet stores can source their dogs, but you can just go to the next state over that doesn’t have those rules.
And then there are the puppy mills that are simply illegal, but enforcement is hard to do. It’s not that hard to have a barn full of breeding dogs without it being detected for a good while. That’s where most of the rescue puppy mill dogs I see come from when they get caught and shut down.
That the writer of the story is an idiot.
There is a “demand” for about 8 million dogs per year. Okay I can accept that.
But there is not, has not, and will not be a demand for 8 million out of the rescue population. Much of that demand is not for rescue dogs, even if one did not consider the irrational bias many have against those dogs that get labeled as “Pit Bulls.” Many (potential) owners want a specific breed or specifically want to have a dog from fairly early puppyhood on.
Per that article the current demand for dogs from shelters is about 2.6 million with many of the excess entering shelters, euthanized.
I’m having a hard time buying that people will drive hundreds of miles just to see a puppy mill dog. I know people who will drive hundreds of miles to get a dog from a reputable breeder (I used to know people who bred show quality Irish Setters - thousands of miles was not unusual for people to come for those puppies) - but why would ANYONE drive hundreds of miles for a puppy mill dog if there is a glut of dogs? Before I do that sort of trip - to potentially shell out $500+ for a dog, I’m going to do some research on the breeder - and I’m going to want the paperwork that says they are purebred - which I hope the AKC isn’t handing out to puppy mills (but maybe I’m wrong on that - I’m not a fan of purebreds).
And I’m not defending puppy mills at all - I have two mixed breed rescues…I just doubt the logic at play here.
One reason is the inexperienced dog owner. If you’re young and just moved into a place where you can have a dog, you might not really understand the background of the puppy market. If you want a particular breed, you might just go on price, especially if you’re not very well off. And there might not been any reputable breeders nearby anyway. So if you want something like a German Shepard puppy, your only option might be to drive far away to get it.
And I actually know someone who has driven hundreds of miles to get a rescue dog. It was a breed she wanted and she’s somewhat impulsive once her heart makes its intentions known. She did look for a while locally, but nothing came up. So she spent all day driving there and back to get a dog which she didn’t know the background of.
Not this one. Feral cats also kill songbirds and squirrels plus are a damn nuisance.
Solution: trapping, then shoot, shovel, and shut up.
BTW, you can tell a friendly neighborhood cat that has gotten lost as compared to these mean as dirt feral ones.
I never thought I would read about peak dog.
I share that skepticism but to be fair, economic activities often migrate to seek less regulation even if isn’t people actually moving.
However IMO the solution to the ‘wrong’ breeding laws in some states is people in those states to ‘fix’ them, not to federalize yet another thing.
The problem is that puppy mills don’t actually NEED fixing. What’s happening is that the Department of Ags regulate them like they regulate any livestock business. The issue is that pet owners don’t see Spot as livestock. So a Department of Ag says, 'Meets minimum square footage per animal, cages are clean, dogs appear fed and generally in good health. It meets our approval." Pet owners say, “Pets are family. You can’t keep them in cages and breed them every six months. They’re just cute, little babies.” It’s just a disconnect between animal as commodity and animal as family. That’s why the Amish are so heavily involved in dog breeding. To them, dogs are an agricultural commodity no different than a chicken or a cow. You keep them fed and in good enough health to reproduce and then you sell their off-spring, just like you’d sell calves in the fall. The goal is to minimize costs while maximizing off spring. When the breeder dog is too old to breed, you euthanize her and buy another breeder. They view proper animal care as ‘warm place to sleep, free of disease, good(but cheap) nutrition, enough room to prevent muscle atrophy or other defects’ while pet owners view proper animal care as ‘romping through the fields playing fetch and setting up animal playdates.’ The Department of Ag says, “What’s the problem exactly with the first model?” while pet owners stare in horror.
If no has brought it up and if its not PC, isnt that what happened on the planet of the apes? Humans lost their pets and the apes replaced them?
Except of course the AKC is the worst fucking thing that has happened to dogs for a hundred years. Their breeding standards make many breeds miserable throughout their life, and prone to sickness.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/withoutacrystalball/2018/08/10785/
and that article points out that we have too many dogs.
We have a big problem in the United States with over-population of dogs. Americans have a fascination with purebred dogs. Because of our obsession with a pure blood lines, commercial puppy mills push out thousands of dogs annually to pet-stores across the country. The result is millions of dogs surrendered to shelters every year. According to the ASCPA, 6.2 million animals enter shelters every single year. Shelters euthanize 1.5 million animals every year. 56% of dogs in shelters are killed. The dirty secret about purebreds is found in their production, lack of care, and poor attention given to genetic issues in dogs.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/withoutacrystalball/2018/08/the-5-most-unhealthy-dog-breeds/
*Are Purebred Dogs Worth it?
Unless and until there are stricter guidelines for breeding, a purebred is probably the worst kind of dog you can buy. Mixed breed dogs have fewer risks for genetic disorders carried in one specific breed. Increasing the gene pool allows the health issues to become less risky for all dogs. Purebred dogs are almost always sicker than your average mutt. Not to mention mutts are a lot less expensive.
Save your cash and heartache by skipping these give purebreds. Find a dog to rescue or save one from a shelter.*
Here is is about 40% pit bull types, 40% chihuahua types and the rest mixed.
Here’s our current crew:
A good number of bully breeds (most of whom look quite charming in their glamour shots) but a good mix.
At times, we’ve gone through periods where it seemed like every other dog was a rat terrier mix of some sort. Just goes to show.
So…Idiocracy results in better dogs (undocumented American Staffordshire Terriers). I can get behind that. I don’t care for dogs, but I like smart dogs a LOT better than I like dumb people.
Lots to think about here.
When the article talks about a demand for 8 million dogs, do they research the fate of all those dogs? Do they usually have forever homes? How many are dumped when the family discovers that taking care of a dog is hard work? How many dogs get recycled to the shelters because they looked cute but weren’t maintenance-free?
I have friends who farm. The have pet dogs, and they have dogs and cats dumped on their property all the time. They don’t just let those critters become feral; they round them up and either find someone to adopt them or take them to the pound.
It would be better to take action against the bad owners than the animals. If the irresponsible owners were punished when their animals cause problems, there would be fewer problem animals.
Case in point:
We lived in a small town on the high plains. There were many feral cats fed by the owner of a self-storage facility. More than once a mama cat would have a litter in our backyard (our landlady refused to fix the fence) and dogs from down the street whose owners refused to contain them) got in and tore mama and the litter to pieces. I mean that literally.
We knew who owned the dogs. Animal control knew. The law would not let the owners face any consequences for allowing their dogs to behave this way.