A celebration of dogs is a beautiful thing but the celebration doesn't feel complete when the only dogs that are celebrated are purebred dogs. With everything we know about puppy mills, overbreeding, genetic issues, etc. it is hard to be too excited with the Wesminster dog show. I must admit, I don't think the dogs look great with such complex and seemingly impractical hairstyles. I'm also not a big fan of the classic poodle cut. I don't care for Shakespeare sporting a frilly haircut because I think he looks most handsome with a simple cut.
I digress. My main issue is the elevation of "perfection" of the dog breeds. There are so many questions that arise...
What happens to the dogs that aren't considered good enough to show?
Why not celebrate the mixed-breed dogs? Why is the purebred celebrated in a way mixed breeds are not?
PETA showed up at Wesminster with signs that said "Mutts Rule" and "Breeders Kill Shelter Dogs" only to be kicked out for voicing their opinion. While these quick slogans don't necessarily address the complexity of the issues, I do agree with the general statements with a few exceptions. Absolutely, mutts do in fact rule. I can attest to that as an owner of a mutt who also happens to be a shelter dog. The second statement gets tricky. There are good, responsible breeders out there that do promote certain breeds and do a great job of taking care of their breed. Then there are the breeders that over breed, treating their dogs worse than cattle and locking them in horrible, cramped conditions.
Probably the best route for this issue is legislation and the good news is that more puppy mill legislation is in congress. Unfortunately, it doesn't do enough because it asks for self-regulation. Many of these puppy mills prove that self-regulation does not work. The second part of the regulation is the ability to view complaints with dogs people receive. This only takes care of part of the problem because its not looking out of the dogs that are used to breed - only taking care of the resulting puppies.
While Sadie is a cutie and looks like she gets lots of happy time and attention from her owners, she is representative of the best case scenario as a result of careful breeding.
Legislation should be nationwide so that breeders couldn't move to states that don't regulate properly. In addition, there needs to be an answer to the abuse - it needs to be punishable as a crime.
Hopefully, one day we will get to a place in which we can all celebrate dogs - both pure breed and mixed breed dogs without feeling dirty about it. Hopefully, one day overpopulation won't be a problem that leads to so many dogs being put to death.
