Among the more educated, the message of responsible pet ownership seems to be getting through. Considered pet purchases begin with research, that leads knowledgeable buyers to reputable breeders or rescue. There is an understanding of the importance of desexing and obedience training in avoiding behavioral problems and for the pets and their new owners, the results are often ideal.
Meanwhile a large segment of Australian society that know nothing of dog genetics, behaviour, temperament or socialisation, are churning out puppies by the thousands. These breeders are the antithesis of knowledgeable and responsible. They are the Bogan Breeders.
These profit motivated, novice breeders, flood the weekend newspapers with undesexed and substandard dogs. They focus on the breeds popular with consumers like bull breeds and designer crosses.
Someone who knew her said she bought the dog from the pound, and had no idea what it was. She told me it was an American staffy. I thought it might have been a cattledog cross. She put it to an unpapered Amstaff (which may or may not have been purebred) and advertised the pups as “Purebred American Staffies. $500 each”. People bought them like hot cakes because they believed they were purebred Amstaffs.
Unlike responsible breeders who thrive on new information and who are working to better their breeds, the profit motivated Bogan Breeder belligerently defends his ‘right’ to breed his pet, yet makes no effort to learn about dog health or behaviour.
Bretto says:
I can’t believe all you people in welfare are hypocrites and do gooders all you do is attack people who want to breed their dogs but we never asked for your opinion. How do you know these dogs will end up in shelters. You need to understand that the breeder is not responsible for the action of people who buy these dogs and your misguided judgement is not logical you need to direct your anger at the people who dump the dogs because they are the people responsible.
Bogan Breeders add an unmeasurable burden to the pound system whose costs are directly passed on to the taxpayer at an an estimated $120 million per year. In short; they make money and we pay to clean up after them.
Since they aren’t willing take on responsible pet ownership initiatives or examine their contribution to pet overpopulation, what can we do to remove the Bogan Breeders from our communities?
Educating the public on how to carefully screen anyone selling pets will make it harder for them to sell their wares.
Rescue should advertise alongside Bogan Breeders without fear of reprisals from other rescue groups. Our ads should feature particular animals, rather than a general call to our visit our rescue. And we should examine the advertisements they use to attract buyer and replicate them for our own pets.
Rescue should tap into the ‘designer dog’ naming structure (ie. calling a poodle cross and labradoodle). Rather than encouraging designer breeding as is the common fear, this will actually reduce the ‘magical power’ of these names by attributing them to ‘common’ rescue dogs. Paying thousands for a dog that can be found in the pound will make them seem foolish instead of fashionable.
Instead of efforts to distance ourselves from Bogan Breeders, we must put ourselves visibly right alongside them. It’s only when uneducated consumers are given the chance to be educated by us, will we wipe out the noxious Bogan Breeder.
