{"id":1383,"date":"2016-02-05T19:24:47","date_gmt":"2016-02-05T19:24:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/?p=1383"},"modified":"2016-02-05T19:26:29","modified_gmt":"2016-02-05T19:26:29","slug":"remember-the-breeders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/animals-and-culture\/remember-the-breeders\/","title":{"rendered":"Remember the Breeders!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In light of the\u00a0ridiculous\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/shelter-rescue\/western-pa-humane-society-director-placed-on-leave-for-gasp-buying-a-dog-from-a-breeder\/\" target=\"_blank\">outrage over a shelter director *gasp* buying a Collie from a breeder<\/a>, and the petitions and attacks from online activists (two of whom have now been <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ohio.com\/news\/nation\/activists-fire-shelter-chief-for-1-000-purebred-collie-1.659641\" target=\"_blank\">cited for harassment<\/a>, by the way), it is easy to get mired in that totalitarian absurdity, to respond with outrage of one&#8217;s own, to point out the contradictions and inevitable\u00a0extinction (usually unintentional) of healthy, well-adjusted dogs that awaits us at the end of the activists&#8217; road&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>But do not stare too long into that abyss,\u00a0move in the positive, hakuna matata (ok, maybe worry a little)&#8230; let us never forget that there are so many\u00a0wonderful things good breeders have to offer! It may be stated regularly, but it can never be stated enough:<\/p>\n<p>Our communities <em>need<\/em> reputable, responsible breeders. They\u00a0work hard to screen their dogs for diseases, to eliminate health problems, to protect and preserve the breeds they serve, and they provide us with with healthy, well-tempered dogs. And no matter what the activists try to tell you, remember that these people do\u00a0<em>not\u00a0<\/em>contribute to the number of homeless dogs; a good breeder sells on a contract and will take back a dog from an owner who can not or will not provide proper care. A great many of them also work in breed rescue, which helps keep dogs out of shelters.<\/p>\n<p>People want dogs. You could argue that people <em>need<\/em> dogs. So guess what?\u00a0Without breeders, people are still going to sell dogs to one another &#8212; the only difference being that pet sales would be driven underground. No regulation, sales taking place\u00a0in the shadows with no contracts, guarantees, or accountability &#8212; the prime concern being to simply &#8220;move the merchandise.&#8221; Isn&#8217;t this exactly what we\u00a0<em>don&#8217;t<\/em> want?<\/p>\n<p>And speaking of serving their communities, remember that breeders not only provide companions, but also service dogs that help our police, military, and fellow citizens with special needs.<\/p>\n<p>We, too, are appalled by the intolerance of people who would deny a shelter director her choice of dog, but we will never forget to applaud all of the passionate breeders who provide us with loving, healthy pets.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1347\" src=\"http:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/naiaLogo-300x155.jpg\" alt=\"naiaLogo\" width=\"300\" height=\"155\" srcset=\"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/naiaLogo-300x155.jpg 300w, https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/naiaLogo-768x397.jpg 768w, https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/naiaLogo-1024x530.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do not stare too long into that abyss, move in the positive, hakuna matata (ok, maybe worry a little)&#8230; let us never forget that there are so many wonderful things good breeders have to offer!<br \/>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,10],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1383"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1383"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1386,"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1383\/revisions\/1386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}