When Is A Breeder No Longer Responsible?
One Voice:
There are breeders who say they are responsible for an animal its entire life, and I am sure that the .01% who actually follow that noble claim are indeed true to their word, but should you have to be responsible for the animal for the rest of it's life after it is no longer in your care?
I read articles where breeders are blamed for issues years after the sale of an animal. Are breeders truely to be blamed for a pet developing behavioral issues months to years after being placed with the new owner?
Pets who develope ailments often have owners who blame poor genetics/ bad breeding/ to inbred. or whatever else they can think of.
I read an article where a breeder was blamed for a dog who attacked a cow and the reason: it came from a puppymill..... forget the fact that it got loose from its owners care, not one word printed as to why..... but and I quote "Cocker spaniels are bred to be pets and are not hunting dogs, this shows how poorly this animal was bred" said the Humane Society Employee....
and the list goes on........
So I ask when are the pet owners responsible?
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!!, because if you DON'T, then YOU WON'T have ANY!
Someone's Response:
"Cocker spaniels are bred to be pets and are not hunting dogs, this shows how poorly this animal was bred"
SURPRISE! Their ignorance is showing - yet again.
Cockers are DOGS. As such, and not 100% controlled, even by breeders who are trying, they have PREY DRIVE. They can have anywhere from nearly none to tons. Cockers are from (& some still exhibit) HUNTING heritage. some ability (modified PREY DRIVE) may exist despite generations of disuse. GSDs, collies, shelties, etc. whose family hasn't been exposed to livestock in
generations still sometimes show respectable herding instinct (another flavor of modified PREY DRIVE). Why not cockers?
Whatever drives this dog may have had, whatever intent his breeder had, his OWNER had the responsibility to keep him AWAY from any livestock that belonged to someone else whose permission was NOT given to let the dog in with them.
As to breeders' responsibility in general. We DELEGATE that responsibility to the person to whom we sell the dog. A breeder is NOT responsible for anything their dog DOES while it's in someone else's possession, especially if they are no longer {one of} the legal owner(s).
The breeder has a responsibility to keep his breeding stock healthy, to produce/sell healthy animals. to honestly represent those animals to potential buyers.
Some may wish to offer buyers additional services: consulting services, grooming, boarding, educational opportunities, a safety net "if you ever get into a position where you can't keep the dog..." but that still doesn't make them responsible UNLESS/UNTIL the dog is actually in their care.
One Voice Reponse:
You seem to be living in a fantasy world where people will actually take responsibility for their actions, good and bad. In this dimension, no one need take responsibility for anything bad that happens. It is always someone else's fault. Look around you. Anyone who has a problem is able to point a finger to another for the cause of their misfortune. A season where rainfall is much more or much less than the normal rate is the fault of the evil large corporations causing "climate change". You spill coffee in your lap, suffer a minor burn, and it is not your fault--it is the fault of the eatery where you bought the coffee for failing to warn you that the coffee is hot. I mean, does not the phrase cup of coffee imply HOT coffee?
Politics is all about blaming the other guy. Politicians need to point to someone or some organization as being the cause for all the problems of the body electorate. Money problems--it�s the fault of the banks and those high rollers on Wall Street. Health problems--the insurance companies are the source of all evil--never mind they are following government mandates. And so on.
Why should it be any different with pure bred dogs? I do not think one has to go too far afield these days before they will find someone who will make the case that whatever ails your dog is the cause of genetics. If it is a genetic based problem, then it certainly is the fault of the breeder for not recognizing this and selling you the dog that had this genetic problem.
Therefore it is the fault of a breeder if the owner did not socialize the dog, teach it basic commands and reinforce that training, etc. It is in the genes, not in the jeans.
Another Response:
Not only is the responsibilty on the dog owner, that the dog got on the the farmers property, but the farmer who owns the cow should not only have good fencing to keep his cow(s) in, but should also have good fencing to keep dogs, wolves, coyotes and etc out. Animals do occasionally get out, even cows. That works both ways. Now, the breeder has nothing to do with the dog getting on to a farmer's land where his cows are. Yet, someone points a finger and it's usually at the wrong person, of course.
