Where Is That Doggy In The Window

       The State of CT has a bill currently before it H5027 that would regulate what dog a pet shop can sell.  The bill titled An Act Prohibiting The Sale Of Dogs And Cats Obtained From Substandard Domestic Animal Mills And Requiring A Standard Of Care Applicable To Animal Importers, sets out to prohibit the operation of substandard animal mills in CT while forbidding state licensed pet shops from selling dogs or cats obtained from these mills.  On the surface, like the titles of many government laws, sounds great.  The government will regulate these substandard puppy mills right out of business.  In reality, like most government interventions, this law will not live up to the hype.
    
      The law itself doesn’t even spell out fines for these puppy mills.  It is much like the parent in the supermarket who tells a child that they will be put in time out if they don’t stop misbehaving, only to get continuous warnings but no punishment.  It also says that pet shop owners can only sell animals obtained from publicly operated animal control facilities or animal rescues or shelters that have 501(c)(3) status.  The reason for this I presume is that the government thinks that we can adopt our way out of the mess that we are in.  We are about as likely to accomplish this as our elected representatives are to stop raising our taxes every year.  If the government wants to do something go after the cause, the puppy mills themselves and not the symptoms the pet shop selling what is available to them.
     
       Before I continue bear in mind that I am an avid supporter of animal rescues and shelters and as a stand up comedian I perform several shows per year to raise money for these organizations.  I would like to know what actually constitutes a rescue dog?  My girlfriend and I have two dogs.  One is a German Shepherd/Great Pyrenees mix that came via the Big Fluffy Dog Rescue, a fine organization I might add, who has a chapter based in CT but my dog actually came from a kill shelter in Tennessee.  As long as BFDR pays CT $100 a year under this law they could still legally bring my dog Malone into CT and adopt him out to me.  The other dog is a Rat Terrier who came from a pet shop via a puppy mill in Kansas.  Sour, don’t ever let a 4 year old child name your dog, is in a sense a rescue too.  Is she not worthy of adoption because she was born in cramped confines are poor conditions?  I argue she is a rescue dog as well as she sat in a cage at the pet store on the clearance rack no less.  She was returned after a day from her first owner because she had diarrhea.  I’d probably crap all over too if I sensed some irresponsible person was taking me home to a likely horrible life.
   
       I wish all the shelter dogs would be adopted today by responsible owners.  However every dog isn’t for every person.  There are high energy dogs that need to have a lot of exercise everyday.  Those dogs are not good for the couch potato serial TV watcher.  There are fitness fanatics that would not be a match for a lazy dog.  Some dogs just don’t want to run 8 miles with you after work every day.
    
      Breeders do have their place.  People get a certain breed for a variety of reasons.  Perhaps I’m 19th century royalty and I want to hunt large boar.  In that case I’m going to want a Weimaraner and not a Maltese.  If I’m a farmer and my sheep like to run away I’ll get a Border Collie.  A family who spends a lot of time on their boat on the ocean might want to look into a Newfoundland.  Without responsible breeders these great dogs would cease to exist. 
      
       The main problem is pet owners themselves.  We are all besieged daily on Facebook and Twitter and on TV with Sarah McLachlan telling us the sad tales of homeless dogs toiling away in shelters.  It can pull at even the hardest of us.  Words online like “This dog is urgent and will be put to sleep at 3pm” can make anyway want to save that poor dog.  However, feeling bad for a dog and making a good dog owner is not the same thing.  Dogs no matter if it comes from a breeder or a shelter is hard work and takes a commitment.  Most shelter dogs didn’t start there as puppies.  They were brought in because they were too hard to handle, no one gave them the attention they deserve, were found abandoned on the side of the road and countless other reasons.  It’s a good bet many shelter dogs were once part of a family who thought they were responsible owners but were no such thing or had no idea what kind of commitment it took. 

       The point is people have to be ready to make a lifelong commitment to their new dog.  We can spend time with a shelter dog before we adopt or we can research a breed before we make a purchase.  We can learn as much as we can before we take the plunge.  We do not get the luxury of researching our kids before we have them and we don’t return them even though sometimes we want to and we shouldn’t return our dogs either.

      The bill won’t stop puppy mills from operating.  It will only diminish the choices for people in getting what kind of dogs that they want.  Ideally breeders and rescues would work together.  The strong and ethical will remain while the unscrupulous will hopefully crumble.  Responsible people should educate those that are ignorant on breeds and the state should focus its attention on regulating conditions in puppy mills.