What is dog breeder ethics? Is it all right to just not be a puppy mill? Should breeders feel it's satisfactory to breed even if dogs are sitting in shelters? Someone once told me breeders should never breed if there is one dog left in a shelter...but is that reasonable? What if you don't want a big hairy dog and that's all your shelter has. Can getting dogs from shelters be just another way of promoting puppy mills?

Shelters are wonderful inventions. Dogs that are no longer wanted by their owners are no longer turned out into the street to fend for themselves. Shelters take in excess dogs and attempt to place them in homes, or euthanize them humanely. But where do these dogs come from? Statistics show that most dogs in shelters these days are likely purebreds - or purebred mixes - such as puggles and labradoodles. They are typically not of accidental or stray breeding. These dogs were bred purposely by someone and somehow ended up in a shelter situation.

Breeders are the creators of these dogs claim the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). But did they? My feeling is that a special kind of breeder bred these dogs - a puppy mill. Had they been bred by ethical breeders they wouldn't be in the shelter at all. Ethical breeders take unwanted dogs of their creation back, and don't dump excess puppies with shelters. They don't breed more dogs than they can reasonably take back. They care about the dogs they breed and where they go. If a dog ends up in a shelter - without a microchip and unclaimed, then odds are the breeder was hoping he wouldn't get it back. He only wanted the money he received for the puppy he sold initially.

So what is breeder ethics? Making sure your dogs never end up in a shelter situation is a start. But what about pedigrees? Where does your name turn up? If your pedigree turns up in a puppy mill pedigree, how did it happen? Enter the show breeder. A show breeder is addicted to the ego boost they get for winning at dog shows. The American Kennel Club (AKC) encourages this behavior by encouraging over breeding through many of their programs and awards. Don't forget, they also receive a fee for every dog registered - so it's in their best interest financially that a lot of dogs get registered - quantity over quality. Then they get fees for every dog entered in one of their shows...add awards for dogs with the most champions sired, awards only for unaltered dogs, and unhealthy competition to the point it becomes addicting for some people and a ticking bomb has been created. This came to light recently when a show breeder was arrested for cruelty to over 100 dogs with confused and inaccurate pedigrees. In his pedigrees are the names of some of the top kennels in the US. He was not only a puppy mill, cranking out puppies by the truckload and dumping the excess in shelters...but he was also stroking egos and with the assistance of the AKC cranking out awards by the truckload as well. Need a Register of Merit on your stud dog? Breed to his bitch and the puppies produced will go to show homes almost guaranteeing you enough points toward that Register of Merit title. The down side is that when he gets discovered...your pedigree is part of his. Will the AKC revoke all the tainted pedigrees? Probably not...that would impact show entries and the American Kennel Club income.

In all, ethics are what you make them. In a perfect world dogs wouldn't get disease, none would ever be in a shelter, and breeders would think about the dogs before the money. Sadly this often isn't so. So what about those shelter dogs we are all supposed to be taking in according to the HSUS and PETA? Well, indirectly you are supporting puppy mills that dump their excess and won't take their adults back.

If you can, you should still support shelters because the dogs need you - but be aware of where those dogs really come from. Better yet, support ethical breeders and you'll get the bonus of knowing your dog's medical history and have support should you ever need it.