Letter To a Breeder

I saw your name today. It was listed on the registration papers that were turned in with him. He looked like a pretty nice dog, but his family felt that he had grown too large and active for them. He was born just last year. I asked them if they had been in touch with you, but they said they didn't know where to find you. And since you hadn't been in touch since they bought the dog, they were pretty sure you weren't interested in him anymore. They said you had puppies every year and probably already had your hands full with a new litter on the ground.

I put your dog in his kennel after getting all the information on him. He looked so lost and alone. I wondered how a person could put so much effort into creating a life, and then walk away from it. Obviously you took the time to register the parents, get them together, and filled out all the documents to register the pups. I would think you invested quite a few hours into caring for the mother and the whelps until they were old enough to leave. And I am sure taking the time to talk to the puppy buyers took quite a chunk out of your day. And to think that all that effort still resulted in an unwanted dog has got to be the most depressing thing I can think of.

A lot of people stop and look at your pup, but no one seems interested in giving him a home. Or the people that do want him are failing the screening process miserably. Did you have this much trouble finding the right homes? Most of the people that pass him by say they can get a new puppy and not have to deal with 'somebody else's problem dog'. I wonder if they will come and buy a pup from your next litter. Funny thing is that most of these people have already surrendered dogs to us in the past, so they have a pretty good track record of making their own 'problem dogs'. What a vicious cycle. Buy a pup from a breeder, get rid of it at the shelter a year or so later, then buy another pup from a breeder, and so on.

Today your dog found a home. He came home with me. I couldn't stand watching him waiting there for a person that was never going to come. He has a lifelong home now, and he will be one of the lucky ones that made it out of a shelter alive. But just so you know, I saw your name today. Another one of your pups was left at the shelter, papers and all. I guess that means you don't really try to find the right homes after all. Sorry to have wasted your time.