Checkout Puppy Bowl, Think about Adopting Rather than Buying a Pet

An Animal Planet Twitter handle tweeted the video of a TV show that will be aired on 7^th Feb; something called the Puppy Bowl. This is meant to encourage people to adopt pets rather than buying them from breeders. Check out the cute puppies and give a thought to the pros and cons of buying so-called pure-bred dogs.

This event is meant to spread awareness about adopting puppies /dogs rather than buying them. There are many ethical questions that are now asked around the practice of breeding dogs to look a certain way. There are other reasons too, why it is a much better idea to adopt strays, abandoned dogs and those in shelters rather than buying a pet.

Now there are advantages to buying a pedigreed dog: you can get the kind of dog that you really like the look of. You can choose a small or a large breed depending upon your requirements, lifestyle, home etc. You can also opt for a dog that sheds less; which does make things easier for the pet owner. Also, there are certain characteristics that one can reasonably expect from certain breeds – so one can choose a breed based on this. But does it make sense to buy a pedigreed animal? Is it ethically right?

Firstly there is the fact that some dog breeders use quite cruel and inhuman practices to maximise profit. They do this by ensuring large and frequent litters even at the cost of the health and wellbeing of the animal. The dogs themselves may be kept in unsanitary and cruel conditions because for some breeders they are nothing more than a way to earn. Then there are all those other cruelties that are part of the breeding process: the docking of tails and even the clipping of ears.

Then, of course, there is the fact that dog breeds are an unnatural concept. To begin with, dogs were bred based on requirements such as tracking, pulling sledges, guard property, retrieve hunted prey and so on. However, later it simply became about human vanity; a fanciful and misplaced aesthetic.

With the sometimes unrealistic expectations of kennel clubs, certain physical characteristics of breeds have become more and more exaggerated over time. This has led to an increase in malformations and inherited disease etc. This is why you may have the Alsatian with the exaggerated bowed back and the Pug with an unnaturally protruding lower jaw and bulging eyes. Similarly, many bulldogs have breathing difficulties because of how they have been bred to have short noses. Some breeds are known to be more prone to certain disorders and diseases. These health issues in dogs can be traced directly to the practice of breeding.

Some breeds also have some highly impractical characteristics: overly long ears in spaniels and some hounds, hair that covers the eyes as in the case of several long-haired breeds, very short legs in case of dachshunds etc. The craze for wrinkles in some breeds means that some owners/breeders make their dogs undergo facelifts, which is simply crazy and just really cruel. In India, we see breeds such as St Bernard or Huskies as a status symbol in spite of the fact that it is downright cruel to make these dogs live in Indian heat which they are just not suited to.

So what can we do about the fact that some of us want a playful Labrador or beautiful Golden Retriever or a compact little Beagle? Well first ask around and check on the net if someone wants to put up a breed you're interested in for adoption. Try not to buy from breeders who run those so-called puppy farms. If possible, just adopt a little puppy from a shelter or take one in the next time a stray bitch litters in your neighbourhood. These little street dwellers tend to be smarter and healthier – quite unlike the ‘pure-bred’ who has had all the instincts bred out of it over the years.