From: CBARNES@tamvm1.tamu.edu (Chris Barnes)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Subject: Re: Get Your Pet Neutered
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 93 09:28:12 CST
Organization: Texas A&M University
NNTP-Posting-Host: tamvm1.tamu.edu

In article <1993Jan26.174553.5647@pslu1.psl.wisc.edu>
   gorski@pslu1.psl.wisc.edu (Tom Gorski) writes:
 
>I happen to live in a somewhat rural area where dogs are popular.
>People like to have dogs around, as pets, sentries, hunters, or for
>whatever reason.  Now as it turns out, many of these folks don't
>have a lot of money, especially the several hundred dollars that
>a purebred dog may cost.  These are the people who read the want-ads,
>and buy those mixed breed dogs you see in the paper.
 
So they are either stupid or uneducated.  Either way, they are not proof
that someone *should* provide the supply for their demand.  Tell me,
if someone wanted to save money when buying a car by buying one without
brakes, do you think that GM and Ford should start making them like
that?
 
 
>Now you can argue all you want about the merits or lack thereof of an
>owner who isn't willing to pay top dollar for a purebred dog from a
>breeder.  But you must remember that just because someone has a budget
>doesn't necessarily testify as to their worthiness to own a dog.
>Yea, life isn't that simple.
 
The purchase price of a dog is but a realitively minor portion of the
cost of a dog.  If someone's budget doesn't allow them to spend the
money on a good one (see the following for definintion of a "good one"),
then they can't afford to OWN a dog.
 
GOOD ONE - does not refer only to a dog with specific abilities such as
hunting, conformation, or obeidiance.  It DOES refer to a dog with a good
temprament (for a bad temprament is ALWAYS bad, and is asking for
trouble).  It also refers to dogs that are genetically healthy (back to
the budget again - a dog with genetic health problems will cost the owner
far more money even in the short run than they originally saved buy
buying a "cheap" puppy.
 
 
>Abhorrent though the idea may sound to some, mutts have their place
>in the dog market.  And as there will always be a demand for "no-frills"
>low-priced animals, there will always be a supply of them.  Such are
>the dynamics of our marketplace.  If I want to buy a $50 large, generic-type
>dog, and all you have to sell me are $400 Labrador Retrievers, I need not
>fear--someone will turn up who has $50 large, generic-type dogs to sell.
 
Fine.  So you WANT a mutt.  I got no problem with that.  But when you
suggest that you should SUPPLY the demand for them, then I have a
problem.  To suggest that one should purposely try to supply an item
that is already in such oversupply that millions are destroyed every
year is ludicrous.
 
 
>But at the same time, it also seems to me to be about something else,
>something quite easily understood:
>
>   Money!!
 
And you think that's good?????  I'm sure that mafia hit men make lot's
of money too, but I wouldn't go around trying to justify their actions
because they make money at it!  Jees, try to use at least a little
logic next time.
 
      -----------------------------------------------------
Chris Barnes            |   President - Bryan/College Station
cbarnes@tamvm1.tamu.edu |         Retriever Club.
(409) 846-3273 (home)   |   "Dedicated to the betterment of
(409) 845-8300 (work)   |               the retrieving breeds"
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs