# Sticky  Why my dogs shouldn't exist



## doginthedesert (Oct 10, 2011)

I am sitting here with three dogs that me and my husband love more than anything. They are family and I am so incredibly grateful to have them in my life. Copley was with me during a very intense time career wise and he taught me to take a break and look at what is important in life. He gave me friendship, a hobby, and a reason to get out of the house every day. He has brightened my world in a way that ho human can and I LOVE him. And Kerri- she is beautiful, just gorgeous. And so happy and goofy! She not only brings sunshine and light into my life but into the lives of so many other people as a therapy dog. Then Nova, my beautiful little diamond in the rough. They are just amazing wonderful creatures.

But dogs don't have to suffer for us to have them in our lives. In a perfect world I would be sitting here with three different dogs. Dogs who didn't go through HELL to get where they are today. Dogs bred by responsible, caring breeders who know what they are doing (and I'm not even talking about just show breeders here but I think you all get the gist). Copley has structural faults so bad that he is sure to get arthritis later in life. In fact he already sees a chiropractor! And his teeth- they are so messed up. He is like you took random parts from two totally incompatible breeds and just glued them together.

But people will always say that their back yard bred dog is healthy, good knees etc. So lets say the puppies will not have totally messed up joints and teeth. Where will they go for the rest of their life. Can their homes afford to fix them? Will you be able to keep track of every one of the puppies and know how everything works out for them. If not I have news for you. Odds are one of those puppies is going to get thrown out a window in a supermarket parking lot, left at a bus station, dumped in the desert. In fact the LUCKY abandoned dogs are the ones that end up at the pound. The unlucky ones get out and fend for themselves, half starving out in the elements. The unlucky ones get used as bait dogs in a dog fighting ring. The unlucky ones get locked in a kennel for the rest of their lives being bred. 

Some dogs win the rescue dog lotto. In my state sadly it is only about 8% of abandoned dogs who ever get a new home. Those 8% get picked up by people like me, and the other wonderful rescuers on this forum and around the world who are cleaning up the dirty messes left by irresponsible breeders. We take the traumatized, beaten, abandoned dogs of the world and we spend the rest of their lives trying to convince them everything is going to be ok. That they can finally relax a little bit and enjoy life.

And what about me? One day I want to have a dog that has never been abandoned. A dog that has been raised properly and right by caring people who love it and are smart enough to keep it safe. I want vet bills to come from unexpected accidents and illnesses that no one could have predicted- not from lack of health testing and vet care. I want a dog with really short nails- you know that have nice short quicks because they have been trimmed regularly from puppyhood. I want a dog that I didn't have to drag terrified from a shelter the day I met it.

So if you want to breed your dog because it is cute, it is friendly and it would be fun to have puppies- wake up!!!!!!!! I know you may not think right now any of your puppies will end up abandoned- but they will. No one breeds their pets with the intention of them ending up unwanted- but it happens.

The absolute terror that guides every decision Nova makes is the responsibility of exactly one person- the one who bred her, or her mother, or whatever generation in her line first ended up on the street. But the saddest thing is that I bet that person is still doing it. Because they are living- like most other people- in ignorant bliss. They have no idea that the cute puppies they sell end up suffering these horrible fates. ALL we have on our side is education. I can volunteer and save as many dogs as possible and it still won't stop the problem if we can't get to it's source and educate people.

So to responsible breeders- keep up the good work! The more puppy parents that are educated by good breeders and the more dogs sold with spay/neuter contracts the better!

EVERYONE ELSE- wake up and smell the roses. My dogs may be the bees knees but I still wish you never bred them. The tired old argument "well my dog wouldn't exist without a puppy mill/BYB so therefore I can't say they are all bad" does not work on me. You don't need suffering to have a good dog- in fact they are much better off without it.

Sorry for the rant- I just think more stories like this need to be out there, like I said education is our only hope. Maybe we can start a thread with all the really great dogs who in a perfect world wouldn't exist either.


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## Kelliope (Mar 11, 2011)

OMG! Thank you!!! I could have written this myself!!! Is there anyway to repost this on Facebook, giving full credit to you??? It just says everything I feel!


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## doginthedesert (Oct 10, 2011)

Kelliope said:


> OMG! Thank you!!! I could have written this myself!!! Is there anyway to repost this on Facebook, giving full credit to you??? It just says everything I feel!


Aww thanks! Feel free to share it- or I was thinking of putting something like this a little more proof-read on my blog so if you wait till tomorrow I will write that up and it will be much easier to share. Or if this really moves you just post it! People need to hear this stuff.


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## Moonfall (Nov 16, 2012)

If the world was perfect Douglas wouldn't be here either.. He was bred probably by a BYB, but I don't know that for sure. What I do know is that someone mistreated him horribly. He eventually ended up DUMPED, skinny and scared, left to fend for himself in the Idaho october, when nights start to freeze and a 4.8 pound (probably less then because he was skinny) dog will die. Who does that?

This dog did not run away from home. He is extremely bonded, almost a nanny dog, constantly by my side. The owner had a heart cold enough to take him so far away he could not find a way back, to throw him out, and then to watch him inevitably run after the car, howling, until he couldn't run any more.

He was lucky. Animal control found him. Then I found him in a cage in the pound. He was skinny and scared, but took to me right away and I knew he had to come home with me.

If the world was perfect he would not be afraid. He would not bark and snap at people, he would not scream, bite, pee, and express his glands when picked up by a stranger. He would like other dogs, not feel that he needs to be aggressive.

And this isn't a dog...but a stark reminder of what mills do to animals. 

Thatcher, a ferret, was born at Marshall's, a ferret mill. Like many ferrets in fancy colors, he was deaf. His mother was forced into heat repeatedly with artificial lighting and will never experience a home or kindness, just a wire bottomed cage and constant babies. Before he was old enough to be separated from her, he was taken away. He was neutered much too young and his scent glands removed, which can cause, among other things, incontinence, frequent infections, and even paralyze them forever. The people who do these procedures aren't qualified and they are like an assembly line. No one checks that the ferrets are okay- if they die there's another to take its place.

These too young babies are then packed into boxes and sent to pet shops. They are fed a yucky kibble, very low quality, that in such young babies commonly causes anal prolapse. This baby had trouble with his vision as well, and was frightened by the pet store environment, his deafness, and being separated so young from his mother.

He began to lash out. He bit. Horribly, and at anything he could reach. He is lucky that I went in one day and picked him up, just to play with him because the babies were so cute. He sank his teeth in over and over and I knew he would be sent back to the farm and killed if I did not help him. So I got him.

Then came the grueling task of training such a bitey boy. I looked like I met a meat shredder. But...with time and love, and a lot of patience, came rewards. As he learned that he was not in danger, the biting slowed. Kisses started to replace teeth.

He, and the other ferrets bred by those farms, should not have to experience such trauma...and that is just to get them on the market. What happens after that can be even worse.. and they also breed ferrets for labs...their fate is much crueler.

These animals deserve more. They deserve to go to a real home right away. Not to hurt that way. Thatcher and Bode, my other mill ferret, should have been kept whole for a few months at least, maybe forever, to prevent adrenal disease. Douglas should never have been dumped to fend for his tiny self.

Most of the animals I have shouldn't exist. Their lives have been full of pain and suffering, the loss of everything they love, and confusion. They all deserve better. For every one I help save there is many who die. It weighs on me every day, and maybe some day horrid treatment like this will slow or cease. We can only hope.


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## OzChi (Oct 26, 2011)

Annie, thank-you so much for writing this!

I think a moderator should make this a sticky so all those people who think their dog is super cute so they should have puppies can get a reality check.

The whole "my dog wouldn't exist without a BYB so they're not all bad" or "my BYB dog is healthy so I don't see why BYB's are so bad" logic drives me mad! Just because an individual dog is lucky and lands in a good home and has no healt problems from being BYB'd does not mean it's an ok principle, it's just one lucky dog amongst 1,000's of others who aren't so fortunate.

I applaud you for the work you do with your own dogs and the rescue organizations you contribute to and your commitment to bringing these issues to the attention of everyone on the forum.


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## Lisa T (Sep 3, 2010)

Extremely well written and a stark reminder of the horrors these poor animals go through, thank you.


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## doginthedesert (Oct 10, 2011)

Moonfall- exactly. And the horrors ferrets go through at marshal farms, it is horrible to think that almost every ferret in this country came from that horrible place.

Sarah- Thanks, it is just so imporntant. A lot of people live in places where there are no, or very few chis, in the shelter so they don't understand why I am so passionate about it. As long as I am living in a place with such a big problem I just feel like it is all I can do to educate, educate, educate!

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## Moonfall (Nov 16, 2012)

Marshalls is the most horrible place I can think of for any animal. Ferrets are so sensitive..and unlike dogs, they often never forgive. A puppy mill dog can learn to love again..but I fear that some of the ferrets who are stuck in that place as breeders would never forgive if they somehow were saved.

I have seen videos of it..they come to the sides of the cages, begging to be loved, just once.. and it breaks my heart.

Be passionate. Without people who care these animals have no one to turn to, and die lonely deaths without ever knowing joy. Your little ones are lucky to have you.


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## Kelliope (Mar 11, 2011)

doginthedesert said:


> Aww thanks! Feel free to share it- or I was thinking of putting something like this a little more proof-read on my blog so if you wait till tomorrow I will write that up and it will be much easier to share. Or if this really moves you just post it! People need to hear this stuff.


Perfect! I checked your blog to see if I could link to it but I didn't see this post. I will check back in a few days. Thanks again for putting this into words!!!


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## Jayda (Jun 15, 2012)

Your words are very, very powerful. Thank you. I agree this should be a sticky. I recently met someone who had the cutest little chi wander into their yard with a collar that had a phone number. When they called the number, the voice said, "no we don't have a dog". Really makes you wonder. They kept the guy and it is a charming little one, so cute and full of energy and clearly had a home at some point. This little one was very lucky he wandered into the right yard.


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## pupluv168 (Mar 7, 2012)

This is a great post Annie. I hope to be a hero soon like so many of the wonderful members here who have changed the lives of even a single dog. You are an inspiration. 


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## Huly (Mar 5, 2012)

I could not agree more! I love my Gibbs but I also know the challenges that lay ahead. He is a rescue and was bred by a BYB or puppy mill. His front feet are so twisted he falls and is clumsy but I know as he ages we are going to have challenges with those feet. I love him to death but I wish the person that bred him would have stopped and thought out what they were doing.


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## MChis (Oct 13, 2009)

Very well written & well said! Thank you!!


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## lulu'smom (Jan 4, 2012)

OMG!! I had to restrain myself from hitting the thanks button over and over and over!!!! I second whoever said this should be stickied! I was thinking that as I was reading. I believe my Lulu is one of the LUCKY ones that should not exist (and ya'll have NO IDEA how long it took me to type that!) I know nothing of where she really came from other than the CKC papers she came with that does give breeder info, mom name, dad name etc. I got her from a groomer that also sold toy breeds that she kept in baby beds in the front of her store. Supposedly they had breeders that they would buy from then resale their dogs. No doubt BYBs. At the time that I got her I just believed that that was just one of the ways you could obtain a dog. Most of your stories on your dogs that should not exist will be of ones that you have rescued. I am one of the reformed blissfully ignorant that Annie mentioned. I knew enough to know that I should take her to the vet to have her health checked, but that's about it. My version of Tracy's moto because I can't remember it word for word is--once you are made aware of something, you are responsible for what you do with that information. This forum has educated me, and I am forever grateful; however, you know when I think back to when I was blissfully ignorant, I selfishly think sometimes ignorance is bliss. It is truly heartbreaking to read and see the stories of needless loss, neglect, cruelty, and painful death suffered by innocent creatures all for a buck. A big THANK YOU to every animal rescuer and worker!


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## Buildthemskywards (Jun 16, 2012)

Very well said! I was blissfully ignorant until I did my research before getting Mylo - I looked at all nearby rescues but thankfully I live in a place where chihuahuas are snapped up and very rarely see a shelter. I checked for weeks and there weren't actually many dogs listed in my local shelters but they were all big breeds impractical for my situation and expressly banned from homes with small children (which I hope to have in a few years as well as my many small relatives.) I am so grateful for all of you who spend your time fostering, rescuing and rehabilitating. People always ask me when I'm walking the dogs if I'm going to breed them and then look incredulously at me when I say no! 

I definitely think this should be a sticky!


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## Aquarius (May 8, 2009)

Excellent post Annie - yes I agree it is a useful sticky so I will stick it now!

A great post to link to when people are wondering if they should breed their pets


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## thatrandomgirl (Mar 4, 2012)

THANK YOU for posting this. I wish I could thank it more than once! So very true and well written. 
Though I love her more than anything, Stella shouldn't exist either. If I had not found out about her, I'm sure she'd still be living outside without proper care in the best case scenario... There's absolutely no reason that she should have been in that situation in the first place. 
Hopefully someone considering breeding will see this and take it to heart.


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## doginthedesert (Oct 10, 2011)

Kelliope said:


> Perfect! I checked your blog to see if I could link to it but I didn't see this post. I will check back in a few days. Thanks again for putting this into words!!!


I just put it up there- Dog in the Desert: Why my dogs shouldn't exist Or if its easier like I said just copy and paste it!



Jayda said:


> I recently met someone who had the cutest little chi wander into their yard with a collar that had a phone number. When they called the number, the voice said, "no we don't have a dog". Really makes you wonder.


Hard to believe but it happens every day.



pupluv168 said:


> I hope to be a hero soon like so many of the wonderful members here who have changed the lives of even a single dog.Petguide.com App[/color]


Aww- great that you are going to rescue your next one! But already you are part of the solution, not the problem! Toby seems to have come from a very responsible breeder and by sharing your story about getting him I am sure it helps people choose good breeders like that instead of a puppy mill.



Huly said:


> I love my Gibbs but I also know the challenges that lay ahead. He is a rescue and was bred by a BYB or puppy mill. His front feet are so twisted he falls and is clumsy but I know as he ages we are going to have challenges with those feet./QUOTE]
> 
> Aww, poor guy! I am sure he is a great dog despite all that- although they are all great dogs aren't they?
> 
> ...


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## Moonfall (Nov 16, 2012)

Stella's story reminded me of my Labrador mix, Lulu. She was found wandering the highway by an acquaintance who knew we wanted a dog. She had no ID, just a too tight, faded flea collar. They brought her home. When no one claimed her we went to check her out, and when I was rubbing her tummy, I found a tattoo. We were able to track down the owners, who said they didn't care what happened to her but they didn't want her back. They didn't even LOOK for her.

We took her in. She had been adopted from the shelter by the old owners as a desirable, probably super cute puppy and then we believe mistreated. We do know she was left outside as when we called them they complained that she frequently dug out of the yard in a panic.

The first few days she was so scared it broke my heart. She attached herself to me right away. Her first christmas, she hid from everything and shook anytime she saw the tree..she had no idea what being a family member meant. So sad.

She was lucky she didn't get run over...and the poor girl had so much suffering before we got her. No dog deserves that.


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## Kelliope (Mar 11, 2011)

Thank you!!! I linked to your blog! I hope many people read your words!!!


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## Anji (Mar 22, 2013)

It is so great to find this forum!


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## LostLakeLua (Sep 6, 2009)

This made me cry, Annie!!! I couldn't agree with you more. I really think you should submit this to some of the dog magazines like Dog Fancy and others that post reader contributions. I think this would touch a LOT of hearts!!!


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## Gilly (Jul 17, 2011)

AT LAST!!!!!! People who are the same wavelength as me!!!!  I've had many swearwords thrown my way when I've asked folks WHY they want to breed from their pet bitch or use their dog at stud :foxes15: Once it used to be the mistaken belief that only mongrels and crossbreeds ended up in shelters....after all, nobody would get rid of a dog they've spent lots of money on, would they? :scratch: Nowadays folk just seem to breed these so-called 'designer breeds' to make money and it absolutely boils me!!!!!! :nmad2: 

I'm definitely not anti-breeder as I've always believed in breeding healthy, good examples of a breed (whether dog, horse or cat) - it's just pets being bred from that annoys me as in 99% of cases the 'breeder' couldn't care less about what happens to their puppies once the cash is in their mitts! :foxes15: 

Thank you SO much for bringing this to everyone's attention and let's hope the word gets spread around and folk get educated in the proper place to get their dogs - puppy or adult.


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## ~LS~ (Oct 29, 2011)

Annie, thank you for a great message. Of course you know I wholeheartedly
agree with you my friend. Education is key, and it can make a difference.
Puppy mills & bybs will exist only as long as we let them. Because as long as
there is a demand there will be a supply. Spreading the word, and encouraging
people to adopt or buy from responsible/reputable breeders is crucial. One
person CAN make a difference, every dog adopted is a dog saved, everyone
has the power to help end this nightmare, be it by adopting, supporting local
rescues, donating their time/money/supplies, signing petitions, spreading the
word, there is so much one can do. I'll never stop rescuing because no matter
how many I help there is always more, I feel overwhelmed, tired and sick, but
I keep going...because I'm fed up of seeing good dogs be put on death row
due to no fault of their own. Many shelter dogs are not flawed, they are
wonderful creatures who suffered from their owners' or breeders' mistakes. 
We broke them, we failed them, we need to take responsibility as a society
and stop it from happening again. Ignorant and/or greedy breeding costs so
many dogs their lives, if not today/right away then tomorrow. Look at my own
boys, oh so beautiful, so wonderful...now...but Rocky almost died from parvo
as a pup, has his share of issues and so does Benji, both so messed up in
their heads from poor breeding that no matter how much we train, how much
we love, how much we care and give to them, some things are not erasable.
And no one could have adopted them, they are simply not capable of functioning 
in a normal family situation, they would have been put down if I did not take
them in, my life now revolves around their mental and physical needs, and
there are still moments where all that doesn't seem to be enough. They'll
struggle with some of these issues most likely for the rest of their lives, at 
no fault of their own. Look at Bella, bred so tiny and fragile, to make big bucks
and sell the ultimate "teacup", only two years old already has grade 4 LP, and
a bag full of psychological & behavioral issues that we work on daily, bred so
tiny that her mouth is to small to hold all the teeth, it has almost no teeth in
it, she can barely chew, her ribs & bones are deformed from lack of nutrients
during the early stages, and lord knows what issues will pop up down the line.
Every vet visit, every test, every time I stress about what they'll find, discover, 
what sad news they'll give me. Because no matter what great food I feed,
how much mental & physical stimulation I provide, how well I care for them,
nothing is guaranteed. Is it 100% guaranteed with a dog from a responsible
breeder? Of course not, things happen to even the best bred dogs, but
certain things are tested for, certain issues are bred out of the lines,
aggression, hips, knees, eyes, etc, so you get a certain peace of mind...I
don't have that peace of mind. I want it, I want it for everyone. And the first
step for getting there is spreading the word, so thank you dear Annie for your
post, and thank you my friend for dedicating so much time, sweat and tears
to the dogs who were victims of our human greed and cruelty. You have my
utmost respect.


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## KFox (Apr 17, 2013)

Very well said... I took in an abused dog loved her w all of my heart but she did have issues


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## rudedog (Apr 4, 2013)

I couldn't agree more!


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## zellko (Jul 3, 2013)

*Thanks for this piece!*

This is just what I need to convince my hubby that we DON"T want a puppy from our dear Mickey. Mickey's a lucky dog that has been loved his whole life and I just couldn't bear wondering if his pups are in good homes. He's almost 2 and I'm planning to have him neutered this week. Several people in our neighborhood would like to breed to him and hubby would like to have one of his pups, BUT Mickey already has joint issues and should never have been bred. (The people we got him from were breeding him, don't know why the decided to sell him, but we're happy they did, he's a well adjusted little guy). He's laying half on me and half on my laptop now. Thanks again for sharing your feelings.


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