WARNING: ANGRY AND IRRATIONAL RANT AHEAD

If you are looking for cute stories about my kids please check back later in the week, or maybe next week. If you are looking for pictures of my kids, cute or otherwise, please also check back at a later date. There won't be any photos of my children included in this post because for once, they aren't what is driving me crazy. If you are a pet owner who purchased your pet at a breeder or (God forbid) a pet store, you may also want to check back another time because I doubt you'll find the following rant very flattering. I do not have anything against pure bread dogs per se. I have adopted 3 (maybe, Dharma may have been a mix). I think of them the same way as I think of decent people who are born into really fucked up families. It's not their fault, so I'm not angry with them. But every time I find out that someone has purchased a dog from a breeder or (GOD FORBID) a pet store, I actually have serious trouble resisting the urge to 1) YELL at them "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?" and 2) slap them, hard. This is, in fact, such a painful internal struggle for me that I am genuinely concerned I may eventually end up in court for failing to resist both those urges.

Here's the thing, there are thousands upon thousands of animals in shelters all over this country who need homes. Wonderful animals who have usually ended up in shelters through no fault of their own. Animals who will VERY often be put to death (4 MILLION dogs and cats are euthanized in shelters EVERY YEAR) because their are not enough people who will give them a good home. So why, why, why, oh WHY would any rational person happily plunk down $1500 to $3500 for a dog that is for all practical purposes exactly the fucking same as the poor dog they are going to gas to death tomorrow? Please don't answer that. I've heard all the excuses there are and I think they are all crap. You know what I really think? I think people who buy from a breeder want a status symbol. "Look at me and my pretty dog! Do you see how much money I have!? Don't you just want to BE me!"

It's hard, because I have friends, some good friends, who have bought dogs from breeders, and I would be lying if I said I didn't think less of them afterward. I have no respect for the decision to buy from a breeder because I think it is at best pathetically ignorant, and at worst disgustingly self centered. To be honest, I think anyone who considers buying from a breeder should have to watch 2 full hours of animals being euthanized before handing over that check. If you still feel good about your decision than fine, take your million dollar dog home and enjoy him. You are clearly such a soulless sociopath that you are going to hell anyway, so I won't waste my breath.

Yes, I realize I get a little over zealous when this topic comes up, but it literally keeps me up at night. I consider myself a very open minded and tolerant person in many respects. I have friends that own guns, though I don't believe in that at all. I have friends that may preach their religion a little louder than I would like. I'm even married to a man whose votes cancel out mine on virtually every topic we have ever voted on in any election, local or national. But for me this just seems to be the one thing I can't get past. Sure, it's true, I can never look at people who tell me they would vote for Sarah Palin the same again (they are sad, but in a different way), but we can still be friends. If you buy your dog from a breeder, I'm not so sure.