Page 29 - K9 News - Issue 14 - December 2020

My faith in human-kind has taken a real knock. and, yes, I know it’s always been this way. But
As I said earlier, I don’t know if it’s genuinely
an age thing, or whether it’s down to this weird
world we now live in. You know the weird world
I mean……the one that’s been caused by this
$@#*%*g pandemic.
And let’s face it, as I said at the very beginning,
there’s nothing like a sustained period of
weirdness to bring out the true nature of people!
Some immediately step up to the mark and start
doing good and helping others, often to a level
that goes way beyond the call of duty. Actually,
these sorts of people don’t have to step up to
the mark, often they are already there. They will
tend the sick, they will deliver to the poor and
free the house-bound. They will raise money or
make donations. They will clap on a Thursday,
they will wear their masks. And they won’t
complain, they will smile.
Others, however, will head straight to the
supermarkets, elbowing the competition out
of the way in the process, and fill their trolleys
with whatever it is that the newsreader has just
assured them is in plentiful supply.
And what is it with toilet rolls and pasta, for
goodness sake? I’ve always eaten a fair amount
of pasta…. I love pasta…. but it has never
increased my need for toilet rolls!
Basically, while there’s a great number of people
out there whose natural good shines through
in a crisis, there’s an equally great number of
people out there, possibly a greater number of
people, whose natural greed shines through
in a period of crisis. You know, the ones with a
selfish streak that overrides their humanity, and
triggers their “I’m alright Jack” gene.
We see it in natural disasters. We see it in riots.
We see it in all sorts of crises. And, of course,
we see it in pandemics.
And, sadly, we also see it in dog breeders.
I really struggle, at the best of times, to
understand the sort of mentality that says “let’s
have a litter of puppies and make some money”
K9 NEWS DIGITAL / DECEMBER 2020
when people jump on the bandwagon at a time
of crisis like this, some of whom have otherwise
and previously been of a higher quality moral
fibre, I simply despair.
My descent into the world of Victor Meldrew
moves up another gear. Or should that be down
another gear?
You cannot breed ethically for money. But to
understand this, you first have to understand
where the ethical starting point is, what the
expected standards are, or should be, and what
the implications of unethical behaviour will be.
And while the implications of unethical behaviour
are multifarious, the most important one is that
some pure breeds will be ruined, possibly to the
point of destruction.
You cannot possibly jump through all the
compulsory hoops (though I’m not sure any
of the hoops are actually compulsory….yet),
you can’t go through all the vital pre-breeding
research, you can’t carry out all of the essential
tests, provide all the necessary pre-whelping
care, whelping care and post-whelping care,
cater for all the correct dietary needs and
dietary supplements, check out the potential
owners properly as best one can, register,
microchip, insure, agree contracts and fulfil
contractual obligations, give dietary guidance,
exercise guidance, behavioural guidance,
training guidance….the list goes on and on….
You can’t do all this and then actually have any
money left. And that is before we even start
talking about the essential veterinary needs, the
unexpected veterinary needs, food, more food
and even more food! The investment is huge,
both in terms of money and time.
Then there’s the further consideration of the fact
that Mother Nature is completely unpredictable
and will take every opportunity to kick you
squarely in the gonads if she catches you with
your guard down. It could be that you might
have ten potential owners and only one pup……
or one potential owner and ten pups. They could
all be mis-marked. They could all be blind. They
could all be boys when you want girls and they
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