jenfitzh20 Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 I've no idea if this is the right topic or not so feel free to move it Eileen, if it needs to be. I'm looking for suggestions as to what we as a rescue organization can do to educate "breeders" in our area. No laughing please, I do realize I'm in one of the puppy mill capitals of the country. That being said, I'm doing my best to not slap that label on the breeders of ABCA registered dogs that continue to come thru our organization. I'm not trying to slam ABCA, that is not my intent. Make aware, yes. I do my best to contact these "breeders" when I am given the dogs regsitration papers. Rarely do I get a call back when I contact them and none have been interested in taking a dog back. Well, I thought my luck was about to change. We'd recently gotten 2 registered males from the same area, very similar lines. One had been sold at a church auction and then relinquished to us because the person that bought him had no time for him, he was just 6 mos old when we got him. I was unable to locate contact info for the breeder. The second was a yr old male, relinquished to us by an elderly couple, in their late 70's. They couldn't handle the dog and he was destroying their property. They asked the breeder to take him back but also wanted their money back and the breeder refused, which I can understand. This couple preferred to either euthanize the dog or take him to a shelter rather than give him back to the breeder with no compensation. Luckily we were able to step in and take him before they left on vacation (heavy sigh) to prevent either scenerio. So when we got his papers, I called the breeder, left a message...she actually called me back! She was very surprised not only that he was in rescue but also that I had called her about him. She seemed very interested in getting him back. In a following conversation with her, she told me that this pup was her husbands favorite from the litter. They were excited, when could they pick him up?? Super I thought, nice people. Then she asked me if he was still intact. Here we go. I told her I didn't know for sure, he was in a different city and my volunteers usally schedule the neuter asap as long as they are healthy enough to undergo the surgery and I thought this dog was. She seemed disappointed but still interested in taking him back. It just so happened he was at the vet that day being neutered. When they found this out, they changed their minds saying that they had intended to use him as a stud dog. He's a year old, never been on stock or had any training whatsoever. So rather than blowing my top and making no progress whatsoever, how can we get thru to these people?? We are overwhelmed with border collies in this state, a lot of them are very nice dogs. However, they end up with people who think the are "cool dogs" and then end up with us once the bad behaviors are firmly installed because of uneducated owners. They of course, are not all ABCA dogs, a lot are just BYB dogs, farm dog etc. However, we are seeing an increase in registered dogs lately. I don't have fantasies that I'll get them to stop breeding but can't we at least get them to be a bit pickier about who they sell their dogs to and MAYBE just possibly educate their buyers a bit?? It was suggested to me that ABCA might consider sending out a pamplet with each litter application, talking about being a responsible breeder and what that involves. I think thats a great idea and would show there was concern about who many ABCA registered pups are ending up in rescue. Any other suggestions? From one very burned out and tired rescuer... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Mickey Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 Many kudos to you and the others who rescue. My heart goes out to you and I feel your burnout. It's the never ending quandary, isn't it? People viewing dogs as a commodity - $$ in their eyes. How about... Send educational, non finger-pointing, upbeat newsletters each quarter to the breeders you are aware of? Perhaps ABCA can provide the names of breeders in the area ?? Is there a chance your organization could write a regular column for the local newspapers? Our local newspaper prints such an article every week in their Sunday paper. The author answers questions, explains why puppy mills are so bad, why the holidays is not a good time to get a puppy, how to find a conscientious breeder, etc. Educate the children in your area. Work up a program to take to schools, camps, etc. These kids will either be the next dog lovers or next puppy millers. Sorry to say these suggestions add more work & expense to your group... Hang in there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenfitzh20 Posted July 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 Thanks Deb, good suggestions. They would add more work and expense but if we have someone that is willing to take something like this on, we might give it a shot. I would like to develop some sort of material that we could distribute to those that might not be aware of just how bad it is. I would also like to educate those that are purchasing these pups from the classified ads in the paper. Takes a lot of time, time I'm already taking away from my own dogs. I am blessed with some of the best volunteers but they too need a break once in a while. Again, I do appreciate your suggestions and we'll do our best to try to impliment some of them! Ya know, we used to have a quarterly newsletter that myself and another board member put together. We stopped doing it because of the work involved and lack of feedback, assumed people just didn't read it. We did distribute it to the shelters and vet clinics in the area though and that was where we got the most feedback. Maybe we need to do one more geared towards them instead. Something to think about! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Mickey Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 Yeah, it does tack on more work to an already overworked volunteer group... (generalizing to all volunteer groups here). Don't let the word get out, but writing a two-page newsletter or a regular newspaper article is something I'd love to do. Years back I edited/wrote a newsletter for a local dog club and it was a LOT of work - coming up with topics, printing, mailing... The only hope is that what we write reaches someone, somewhere and makes a difference, if small. Three years, 6 months to retirement! (hopefully :eek: ) Best wishes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubzoe Posted August 21, 2007 Report Share Posted August 21, 2007 Hi, this is a very interesting topic to me. We are in the process of bringing a new loved one into the family. We have one boy now and lost a 15 year old earlier this year. We adopted our boy from a rescue a couple of years ago. So now, my research brought me to both rescue organizations and to breeders. I've been very torn between bringing in a pup from a breeder or rescuing an adult. What I've come to understand is at least in my experience it is harder to adopt a rescue than to buy from a breeder. If you take Deb up on her offer and she is interested in a helper, please let me know. I've been in marketing for 25+ years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighDesertSpice Posted August 21, 2007 Report Share Posted August 21, 2007 Cool! I hope you guys get something going. I would love to see what you produce--it would be worthwhile spreading that news around here too. I've been wondering if you couldn't also get the Ag schools, Vet schools, zoologist programs, et al to contribute.....just some thoughts (even if only $.01 worth).... I like to write, so if you would like an article or two, please let me know. Something along the lines of solving what would be percieved to be a problem to someone else....(new dog ate my shoe....et al). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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