General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: We’re Breeding Dogs to Death [View all]hunter
(38,311 posts)I've grown up with dogs, and everyone in my extended family has dogs.
Nobody buys dogs. They either show up as strays, or we adopt them from the animal shelter.
People would still breed dogs even with strict regulation and laws against selling them, some of them might even sell dogs illegally, but that could be a tool to shut down unethical breeders.
And a certain number of dogs always manage to escape before they are spayed or neutered and breed themselves.
Our oldest dog is a "product" of the Dalmation fad.
Our next dog is a "product" of the Husky fad, sold to owners who knew nothing about Huskies (they can be difficult dogs) and ended up keeping him chained 24/7 in their yard, which is illegal in California.
Our youngest dog is probably an escapee from a breeder who has since left California. She was feral for a few months and it took some work to get her reacustomed to humans. She is an expert hunter of rats, mice, and edible garbage, and can be as invisible as a suburban fox or coyote when she wants to be. She's also a terrible thief. Look away for a few seconds and your sandwich will be gone, and you won't have seen her coming or going. She adores my wife, and seems to fully aware that my wife probably saved her life by adopting her.
My sister-in-law's family has a dog I found skin-and-bones starving, thirsty, and covered with fleas and mites. He had a collar, but no identification or microchip. I think he was a foreclosure dog, abandoned or lost when someone was forced out of their home. He cleaned up well, and is now one happy and very enthusiastic creature who yelps with pure joy whenever he sees me.