Seriously?

For those of you who don't live in Missouri, Proposition B is a bill widely knows as the puppy mill law.  Essentially it calls for stricter regulations for large scale breeding facilities to improve the care and quality of life of those dogs. 

While at the BC specialty this week there was a vehicle with the following bumper sticker

Love your pet?

Thank a breeder.

Vote NO on Proposition B

So I started to wonder exactly which "breeder" I should thank for my dogs. 

Is it Zodiac's breeder who sold (or gave, not sure) him to a family that essentially left him to fend for himself in the backyard with no medical care, toys, training, or socialization?

Is is Legend's breeder who sold her to a family or single parent with a baby who didn't have time for her, kept her tied part of the time in the yard, and left her at the humane society when she was four months old?

Or is it Lyric's breeder who sold her with an underbite and two luxating patellas to a home that gave her minimal medical care, let her get heartworms and then gave her to another family who opted to euthanize her rather than treat her?

I love my dogs but there is no way I would ever thank any of these breeders.  And not that there aren't good responsible breeders out there but where your dog came from should not really have any bearing on whether or not you love him or her.  To even insinuate that it does is superficial and self-serving on the part of the "breeder."  If I had a sound, healthy dog with a good temperament that I got from a breeder I would happily thank them-but I would not love that dog any more or any less if it came from the pound or anywhere else.  And what about all our mixed breed dogs that we love?  Should we thank the irresponsible pet owner who let their dog have puppies with whatever dog was wandering the street?  I should certainly hope not!

I do have a some people I would like to thank though...

• Zodiac's first family (oddly enough) for having the decency to relinquish him to a no-kill rescue. 
• Happy Tails for asking us to foster him
• Nebraska Border Collie rescue for pulling Legend from the humane society and letting me adopt her
• Myself for refusing to put Lyric to sleep
• And whoever (God, fate, luck?) made sure she didn't come in on my day off, hate to know what might have happened!

The moral of this story...

Vote YES on Proposition B

Ok, I know this post does not specifically relate to why you should vote yes but it does illustrate one of the very poor points the opponents of the bill are trying to use.  Either way, who would rationally be against better care for these dogs and the elimination of puppy mills? 

And yes, I will be posting results and photos following our last day of competition tomorrow!