Quote Originally Posted by Orangutango
It isn't the fault of responsible breeders that we have so many unwanted dogs in the world. It's because of the thousands of BYBs and Puppy Mills.

I agree to some extent, however I think it has more to do with the thousands of bad owners out there. You know the ones that get a dog 'for the kids' and the kids get tired of it a year later and the adults don't want to take care of it. Or the owner who gets a pet and doesn't do their research first to see what kind of lifestyle that pet requires (lots of space to run, high energy, large dog) and then decides 'oops' and ships it off to the shelter for their own mistakes.

I think if more owners were educated about what is involved in owning a pet and how to find a reputable breeder or adopting from the shelters, there might be fewer people even buying from BYB's.

I see too much of that stuff at work and it's always the poor pet that suffers from it. But then again I think all people should have to pass a test, have their homes inspected, and have a financial consultant explain vet bills to people before they were allowed to get a pet.