Recently someone posted about wanting to start hobby breeding.  Although I
usually keep my opinions to myself, this subject bothers me enough to speak.
Before I begin, there have been several posts in which an opinion is stated
and people are worried about being "flamed".  I think people should be able
to express their opinions without worrying about that - healthy debate is
fine and disagreements are normal.  When others express a different opinion,
this shouldn't be taken personally.
 
Regarding breeding as a hobby.  I am a little shocked at the number of
people who decide to breed puppies/ferrets/whatever when there are so many
of these in shelters needing homes.  This makes me worry that the reasons
for breeding are somewhat selfish (if not entirely).  Baby animals are
incredibly adorable.
 
What bothers me is that for the mostpart there is really no demand for the
animals breeders produce as long as shelters and petstores and current
breeders exist.  This doesn't mean that they won't get sold, but it does
mean that the shelters will not be able to adopt their animals out, and more
and more animals will be without homes.  Furthermore, when more animals are
sold, there are more animals which may eventually end up in the shelters.
 
If I truly believed that these people who wanted to breed were doing it
because they thought the animals currently available were not adequate in
behavior etc or there weren't enough animals available already, I could
almost see myself supporting it.  If there were a demand for a *better*
ferret/puppy/etc.  and there was someone willing to do this, I wouldn't
argue.  The problem I have is there are bound to be people who want to breed
animals who aren't doing it for this reason.  Many potential breeders want
to do it for fun.  I imagine that these people will even successfully
convince others and even themselves that they are doing it to produce a
better animal, however I honestly believe that in many cases this is not the
main reason they want to breed.
 
Hopefully the people interested in breeding ferrets are aware that they are
difficult to breed, may have large litters, and that they will have to find
homes for them as well.  In fact, before I purchased my first ferret, I
really thought about whether I was ready for the responsibility - and I
decided that I was.  However, breeding is another issue entirely.
 
Remember to think about the animals and what may come of them.
 
Dooks,
 
Adrienne & Casey
[Posted in FML issue 1702]