The unfortunate addition of two more dog breeds by the American Kennel Club (AKC) is being reported as breezily as if it were an announcement for a new car or smartphone. But dogs aren’t fad objects. They’re living, feeling beings — and driving up demand for “purebreds” has dire consequences for dogs.
Many people who think they need the latest breed acquire dogs on a whim, only to abandon or neglect them when they discover that they bark, shed, need to go for walks, make messes and require daily care and attention, as all dogs do.
PETA’s fieldworkers regularly encounter dogs — including purebreds — who were obtained without much, if any, thought about the care and commitment they require. Many have been banished to a lonely, miserable existence in a crate, on a chain or in a backyard pen — where they have no choice but to eat, sleep and relieve themselves on the same minuscule patch of dirt, day after day, through all weather extremes.