Until all shelters are emptied, breeding animals is irresponsible

On Dec.15, the “Puppy Mill Pipeline Act” officially took effect in New York State, banning the sale, leasing, or transferring of ownership of dogs, cats, and rabbits by retail pet shops. This new law is aimed at reducing the profit motive for large scale breeding facilities (puppy mills) that churn out animals without concern for their health or wellbeing. New York is the fifth state to enact such legislation.

For those of us who have toiled long and hard in the animal shelter field, our response to this act is, it’s about time.

But while this is a step in the right direction, we need to go even further in stemming the tide of the companion animal overpopulation crisis.

A Nov. 26 editorial in RiverheadLocal responded to the report that several pet stores have filed a lawsuit declaring the law unconstitutional. The editorial asserted that the pet stores’ lawsuit is self-serving and dishonest, claiming their merchandise comes from “licensed, responsible breeders,” while the facts show that USDA standards for breeding facilities are so low, the terms “licensed and inspected” don’t mean much.

But that editorial didn’t address the real root of this problem.

The pet stores who have filed the complaint have also alleged that the Puppy Mill Pipeline Act will just create more of an underground “black market” for animals, which brings us to the real culprits in this deplorable situation: consumers providing this market for purebred animals.

As long as there is a demand for purebred animals, breeders will continue to churn them out. Puppy mills, backyard breeders—both USDA inspected or not—will keep abusing animals as long as consumers are willing to pay for them.

The compulsion to buy purebred animals has always baffled me. Animals are not designer handbags. And, while the practice of eugenics in humans has been unilaterally condemned throughout the globe as horrific and inhumane, we continue to do this to animals.

Generally speaking, purebred dogs and cats have more health problems than mixed breeds. Breeders manipulate the gene pools for cuteness and other “desirable” traits, with no regard for the animals’ health. My wonderful rescue mutt’s veterinarian recently told me that she sees at least half a dozen relatively young French Bulldogs every week with serious congenital illnesses. This breed, one of the latest “popular” accessories, is being churned out as fast as possible to meet the demand, at the expense of the animals’ well-being.

I work at a limited admission shelter (sometimes referred to as a “no-kill shelter”) in New York City, and we are, as are animal shelters nationwide, currently beyond full capacity, with record numbers of surrendered animals. With many people experiencing economic hardship, companion animals become the last priority for households, and wind up dumped on shelters’ doorsteps.

When I say dumped, I mean literally. In addition to the animals surrendered by owners who can no longer care for them and those we have rescued from cruelty situations, we have recently seen instances of female dogs who have clearly been bred until their bodies could no longer produce puppies, heartlessly dropped in our lobby as “useless.” A French Bulldog puppy was also discarded like trash at the shelter. He had congenital intellectual disabilities and could not lift his head, even to eat or drink water. Whoever bred this animal rejected him because he couldn’t be sold. He died a week later from a seizure, despite our best efforts to save him.

A misinformed public believes that shelters that euthanize (erroneously called “kill shelters”) are bad. The reality is, open admission shelters (so called because they ordinarily accept any animal who needs shelter), like the NYC Animal Care Centers, try their best to rehome animals, but because they always have a steady flow of animals needing care, they by necessity must euthanize animals to free up space for the next round of surrenders.

Instead of demonizing shelters that bravely do society’s dirty work, let’s lay the blame for this crisis where it really belongs: the demand for and sale of animals like commodities.

Things are so bad lately, the NYC ACC has had to make the difficult decision to close all their facilities to surrendered animals because their resources are stretched so thin.

With city shelters unable to fulfill their mission as a refuge for any animal who needs help, we are likely to see more animals dumped in parks or on the side of the highway. A similar fate—or worse—is likely for victims of dogfighting, hoarding, or other cruelty cases. In the midst of this crisis, there’s simply no place for animals in any of these situations to go.

And, while consumers continue to fuel this crisis by buying animals, shelter workers like myself have to face daily ethical dilemmas: is it right to keep accepting animals when our standard of care is compromised by the sheer number of animals who need our help? Is it more humane to euthanize an animal, or to keep them in a kennel for years?

In my opinion, as someone who works every day to make life bearable for shelter animals and witnesses unimaginable cruelty and neglect on a daily basis, the merits of breeding are as undebatable as the merits of child pornography. Until all shelters are emptied, until no animals have to die or look through kennel bars for years because no one will adopt them, breeding animals is irresponsible.

How can you help stem the tide of this ongoing crisis? Support your local shelters. Adopt, don’t buy animals. Spay/neuter your companion animals. Be part of the solution!

Alison Watson is a writer who volunteers at a NYC animal shelter. She lives in Brooklyn. Visit her website.

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