Ignorance and irresponsibility is all it is.

A lot of people feel this way, I feel this way everyday and to be honest there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t feel like smacking someone around from a post I’ve read on a forum or I’ve met in real life. The reason most people seem to breed their DSH or Dalchiadore is because they are cute, will bring in money, want their kids to experience the miracle of birth and other stupid ideas. But I read one today that just blew my mind, perhaps it was the last straw, I had one nerve left on this subject and it’s now been severed. This person came into ownership of two cats, both just your ever day common cat saying since they had a male and female why not breed them and see what kind of kittens they make… because you know, they might produce some rare colored DSH that the world has never seen. I don’t mean to sound nasty but honestly! You want to see kittens? Go to your local shelter or rescue, go look behind an industrial building where I bet you $100 you‘ll find a feral colony with kittens, or even look at pictures on the internet, because that’s what they will produce.

Everyone always says who comes onto a forum about these ideas that they already have homes lined up, that friends and family are dying for a baby from their DSH or Heinz 57, if they are dying for a pet tell them to go to the local shelter or rescue and pick one out, go to a reputable breeder that tests their animals on a regular basis that isn’t breeding mutt to mutt, and making some “wonderful” designer breed, isn’t testing their animals and passing on health problems and knows what they are doing not just doing it because they want to but to better the breed. But guess what those homes you have lined up… they bail out, they decided they no longer want the animal and dump it, can’t afford it and the animal suffers or due to ignorance abuse the animal because they don’t know any better. If you want to breed your animal, and want to make sure it always has the best possible home then you keep it, you’re responsible for that life because you helped create it. So if that family or friend can no longer care for it or don’t want to care for it will you open your door and take the animal back? If your answer is no or I don’t know or anything but yes don’t go breeding your animal, if your not bettering the breed don’t breed it, if you aren’t prepared to test, vaccinate, deworm and give all the proper medical needs to the sire and dam as well as the offspring don’t breed it!

You realize that breeding your beloved family pet takes away a home for a homeless shelter animal for every life your pet carries? “Oh someone will adopt it” no, someone won’t adopt every animal out there, there are kill shelters out there that put a time limit on their animals not because they are horrible people and want to put these sweet animals down because we bred them and didn’t want to care for them but because they have no choice. Shelters and rescues have limits in funding and space; they aren’t some rich massive havens that keep every and any animal that comes in their doors no matter how long it takes to find them a home. Some are, but not all. I firmly believe if you want to breed your animal, your family pet just because, you need to work one day at a kill shelter and hopefully that will change your mind about breeding Bugsy the beloved stray cat you took in because you want a memory of her when she dies, or Molly the unregistered, family, mystery mutt because it’ll bring some extra income in while your on maternity leave.

Do you realize that EVERY DAY 70,000 puppies and kittens are born in this country while only 10,000 people are born? There simply aren’t enough homes for all those shelter animals, those unregistered, non bred standard family pets you just had to breed. And with every new life you help bring into this world you’re taking away a home from one of those shelter animals who people bred and just like you were sure they’d be in a forever home because it was a family friend ore family member who took them.

Every year 10 -12 million animals are euthanized because there aren’t enough homes out there? And no one wants to own up to the animals they bred and take them back when their owners no longer and can’t care for them.

Even if you breed purebreds its no guarantee they won’t end up in a shelter. 30% of all shelter animals are purebreds, papers don’t mean you should breed the animal. You need to be prepared to take back anything you bred.

Not only does spaying and neutering help with the over population problem it helps with behavior and health problems.
By altering your pet you reduce the risk of your pet:

- Roaming as they do this to find mates.
- Being bitten, scratched, getting into fights as this happens during fights over a female who when a male crosses into another males territory to get to a female, even the female who is not ready to breed will inflict painful and serious damage to a male. Also it means less likely of a chance of the animal getting a painful infection or abscess from wounds inflicted during this time.
- Developing cancers in the testicals and uterus.
- Developing pyometra which is a painful disease of the uterus, its sudden and deadly if left untreated for too long it has been compared to acute appendicitis in us. It happens at any age, and doesn’t matter if the female was ever bred or not.
- Altered cats are less likely to spray, even females spray.
- Reduces the risk of cats getting FeLV or FIV as well as other diseases that can be transferred during the mating of cats or dogs.
-Neutered cats won’t develop “stud tail”, this is caused by over active glands in the male cat’s tail.

It's also been proven that altered animals live longer healthier lives.

Do your pet a favor, do those who work and volunteer their time at rescues and shelters a favor, spay and neuter, adopt if you want a pet, foster if you have kitten fever or want to see the miracle of birth there are plenty of foster homes needed for pregnant cats/dogs and kittens/puppies. You don’t have to wait for the animal to have their first heat; you don’t have to wait for them to be 7 months old and then it becoming too late. You can fix your pet before their first heat and as early as 6 – 14 weeks

A Prayer From Those Who Can't Talk

I ask for the privilege of not being born ... not to be born until you can assure me of a home and a master to protect me, and the right to live as long as I am physically able to enjoy life ... not to be born until my body is precious and men have ceased to exploit it because it is cheap and plentiful.