More on Breeders
My post on Breeders this week seems to have raised enough controversy that it merits a follow-up entry. I followed the comments on this one really closely, and it’s pretty clear that there’s some interesting stuff going on. PETA Files reader Kelly—who was the most outspoken representative of the forces of good in the comment war on that particular post—made this remark, which inspired me to get out my pipe and Sherlock Holmes hat and do a bit of investigative work:
“Would anyone like to know why the crackpot breeders have come out of the woodwork to come here and spread the usual propaganda about ‘reputable’ breeders? They are all madly messaging each other and emailing each other and exhorting each other on their forums to come here and spread the gospel and try to cover their butts.”
Sure enough, when I looked into it, the page was getting some heavy traffic from breeder-focused message boards and sites, and an unusual amount of comments with the standard anti-animal propaganda that people copy and paste from meat-industry front groups when they have an axe to grind about an initiative that’s designed to help animals. There was also the standard drivel about “responsible” breeders (as if such a thing existed). Which got me to thinking: What po$$ible rea$on could the$e breeder$ have for coming onto PETA’s blog by the dozen to try and di$courage people from adopting from a shelter? If anyone ha$ any idea$, I’d love to hear them. It’$ a total my$tery to me!
Anyway, by way of an answer to some of the legitimate questions about the campaign that appeared in the comments:
1) Sad as it is to see them there, buying an animal from a pet store just isn’t a good way to help them. If you pay for that animal, not only is she going to be replaced right away with another one, but you’re funding the pet store’s practice with your purchase, and denying an adoptable animal at a shelter a chance at life at the same time.
2) I deliberately didn’t draw a distinction between so-called “responsible” breeders and people who run puppy mills. Sure, some of these folks aren’t quite so cruel as the scumbags who torture animals in puppy mill-type operations, but the point here is that there is no excuse for breeding and selling animals when millions upon millions of them are being euthanized in shelters or suffering out on the streets.
That’s it on breeders for now, but keep an eye out for some of the great new stuff we have coming up to expose this vicious little industry for what it is.
