America’s Favorite Dog Breed.

An ignorant article from MSNBC covers the American Kennel Club’s (AKC) statistics on dog breed popularity in America.  Because the article is about AKC dogs, it entirely omits any mention of the popularity of the mutt.

All dogs are great, amazing, and loyal friends (even to the point that it can break your heart) but breeding dogs to fit a certain standard pointless and unethical.

The AKC’s dog breeding standards have been widely criticized and even sparked what turned out to be PETA’s most controversial campaign ever in which the breeding organization’s genetic favoritism was likened to the KKK.

The bigger problem with dog breeding are the conditions that the majority of purebred dogs come from.  Many greedy breeders keep puppies in factory farms called “puppy mills” where dogs are stacked on top of one another in tiny wire cages.  If the dog does not die waiting for a customer, they can come away covered in feces and full of deadly illnesses.  

Even the cleaner breeding operations areanimal exploitation.  A breeder is purposefully getting a dog pregnant in the hopes of making money off the mother’s babies.  The concept of breeding animals for profit is unethical, period.

All dogs are cute and special but we really need to encourage people to ALWAYS adopt and NEVER buy from a breeder or pet store no matter how reputable or how cute the dog may be.

Let’s make the mutt America’s favorite dog.  I know he’s mine.