I believe it's the case that the breed of dog that wins the Westminster Kennel Club dog show becomes popular, and many people want to own a dog of that breed.
This is very bad if it means the puppymills crank up to supply more puppies born from parents living in horrible crowded conditions (think factory farm....). Parents who are not health- or temperament-tested, which means the puppies are more likely to be sick and have personality issues. And of course the puppies are sold to anyone who has the cash, nevermind whether they are suited to have a dog at all, let alone a dog of a particular breed (with the characteristics and personality of that breed).
On the other hand, when a particular breed is so common that it appears in every shelter in the country -- more popularity for their breed may mean more dogs go home from shelters. And many, many shelters work at helping people understand what it's like to live with an adult of a particular breed, as well helping people learn a bit about house-training, manners training, etc.
I am always happy to see a beagle win Westminster. I bet there is a beagle-y dog in every shelter in this country. If a bunch of beagles get good homes because one of their kin won Westminster last night, that is excellent.
I've heard the term "collateral damage" many times. I think this must be "collateral benefit"!
Beagles were bred to work in packs. This means they tend to be friendly with people and other dogs. They're not too big, and they don't have too much hair. They should stay on leash, when outside a fenced yard, because they tend to follow scent trails to their ends, and only afterwards realize they have no idea where they are or how they got there. If you are looking for a furry companion, please consider a shelter beagle!
Just so this post wouldn't be photo-less, I went trolling on Wikimedia Commons for an image that is ok for me to share with you. Here are two nice-looking beagles.
photo attribution: Lilly M (za zgodą mojej znajomej - wikipedystki) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons
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1 comment:
Many many beagles are used in inhumane laboratory experiments because of their friendly and trusting nature. Please check out the website of ARME's Beagle Freedom Project. This group works to give these dogs some normalcy after they are freed from years of abuse. I watched the last few minutes of the Kennel Club Dog Show. I cringed when the handler said the winning beagle would be bred for puppies. I have worked in an animal shelter for three years. I have only seen a handful of beagle mixes. There are 200 dogs on any given day. When prospective adopters come in, unfortunately there is not the staff to educate the public on what they should know about owning a dog. People need to start spaying, neutering and adopting. Not breeding. I appreciate your intentions in your post. Just adding some additional info that might be helpful.
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