Local ordinances and backyard breeders

I am going to start this blog out with a statement which may make some people mad, but I really don't care. Backyard breeders should be banned. Period. No question about it. Now, I know some folks who are backyard breeders or have been backyard breeders. They did not breed dogs because they loved the breed. They bred dogs for the money. Don't doubt there is big money to be made breeding dogs, whether you know what you are doing or not.

As far as I know, there are no local ordinances against the practice. This means it can make me angry and I can speak out against it, but legally, these folks are doing nothing wrong. Until the residents and animal lovers in this area demand we have some kind of ordinance or licensing fee, these misquided people will continue to breed dogs with no thought to what they are doing to the female dog or where the pups will ultimately end up.

There must also be a market for the puppies or the backyard breeders would not continue to breed. The law of supply and demand holds true even with backyard breeders.

Collier County had a case of a breeder who surrendered 45 dogs to Animal Control, 15 died and the others were sick or showed signs of neglect. This brought out the animal lovers in droves to a meeting last night of the Collier County Commission. They want these breeders regulated so this doesn't happen again. Which isn't too much to ask.

The problem will arise when these folks simply move a county over, where they have no ordinances against breeding and the cycle continues.

You can check out the story from Naples here and then get on the telephone and call your representative. Let's try and get some state laws governing breeders so they have to follow some guidelines. Let's charge them a fee to be registered and then it will not be so easy for them to pack up and move their operation to another county.

Please opt to adopt. There are plenty of purebred dogs in the state who have been rescued and are desperate for a home. I have a great working relationship with Labrador Retriever Rescue I can tell you they are always full because they can't find enough homes for the dogs they have taken in. Purebred Labradors, much like the ones from Collier County, who have been abandoned, neglected or dumped for no reason except their owner didn't want them any longer. Take a look at the photo of Lazareth, who weighs 25 pounds and is two years old. His owners tried to starve him to death. It is a sad tale and will continue on until we can do something legally to hold these breeders responsible.