This is why I say breeding is a selfish act.Except that responsible breeding is done to better the health, longevity, and temperament of a breed and a reputable breeder is lucky to break even let alone make money off of breeding.
Many of my *responsibly bred* rats have been freely given to me by their breeders also. Not because there’s anything wrong with the rats [well, one of them I took on as a special case, but she’s irrelevant to this] or the breeders can’t find someone else to home them or anything like that. But despite the cost it takes to care for and breed rats responsibly, some don’t like charging money for people [non-human people, yes] who’re essentially family. I tend to donate to a charity [usually the NERS Rescue Fund] instead.
Even responsible rat breeders who do charge for kittens, they’re nowhere near going to cover the cost of the decision to breed. That is the care of the litter in question, let alone the costs involved with caring for the numbers required to breed in an ethically responsible manner. A couple of years ago, a good friend of mine who breeds rats told me that the money she makes from selling babies very rarely even covers the costs of feeding the mum and babies for 7 weeks. Tangent: I know in the US it’s normal to home rats out younger, but in the UK the NFRS states 6 weeks minimum, with breeders who have slower-maturing lines using 7 weeks as minimum.
The only way to breed rats and make any money at all from it involves breeding malnourished unstimulated babies (and probably kill-culling too) from malnourished unstimulated overcrowded adults who aren’t given more than basic medical attention. Extra money for you if you’re being dickish and charging more for some varieties than others. If you want to breed rats responsibly, you need to be prepared to lose a lot of your own money. And that’s while noting that rats don’t even have the available health tests that larger species have access to.
It’s incorrect, wrong and downright unfair to lump all breeders together. Anyone who sticks a boy and a girl together and gets babies is technically a breeder; that doesn’t mean every breeder should be supported just as much as it doesn’t mean every breeder should be unsupported. You need people ‘clearing up’ the problems caused by irresponsible breeding and farms, but you also need people working from the other side to promote longterm benefits and change.
If a rescue euthanizes a dog for moderate dog aggression, that rescue can no longer call themselves a rescue. Especially if that dog was a bully breed..
^ This.
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Action Needed: Help Chimps!
Great Ape Protection Act
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There is new momentum propelling the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act (GAPCSA). Recently, proponents of the bill spoke at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works subcommittee on Water and Wildlife. Physician and former vaccine researcher at GlaxoSmithKline, Dr. Martin Wasserman testified in support of the bill, saying it would “allow us to focus on new alternative research methodologies, end a cycle of wasteful and unnecessary research, save money, and protect chimpanzees who have already given so much of their lives to research in the past.”
GAPCSA would effectively end invasive research on an estimated 1,000 chimpanzees currently in government-sponsored labs and prohibit such experiments on all great apes (defined as chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, orangutans, and gibbons). If passed, it would ensure peaceful retirement for these animals.
Your Senators need to hear from you! Currently, there are only 14 co-sponsors in the Senate, so more are needed. Please take a moment to let your lawmakers know you care about chimps!
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[Trigger Warning: Animal abuse, animal cruelty] Guys, thank you so much for liking and reblogging my last post.
My friends dog shelter in Romania is in URGENT need of help, the mayor of Slatina, Romania where the shelter is built wants the dogs off his land and will kill all 350+ dogs in june if he doesnt get his money, these dogs WILL NOT be euthanized by lethal injection, they will be killed in the worst possible ways, beheaded, soaked in water and thrown at electric fences, beaten to death, starved and tortured, WE CAN STOP THIS! The shelter needs to pay half of the money by June and can then pay the rest in monthly installments to keep the land and keep the dogs safe! They need £8,000, they need you. Please donate using the below link and please share this with everyone you know and your tumblrs/twitters/facebooks.
http://ourfriendsdogrescueromania.chipin.com/our-friends-dog-rescue-romania
http://ourfriendsdogrescueromania.chipin.com/our-friends-dog-rescue-romania
http://ourfriendsdogrescueromania.chipin.com/our-friends-dog-rescue-romania
Preservation of our Endangered Wildlife | OMG!
Who is OMG or One More Generation?
One More Generation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the preservation of endangered species and our environment. Our goal is to ensure all endangered species survive at least One More Generation… and beyond. Two students of the Fayette Montessori School founded OMG in Fayetteville, GA back in late 2009. The founders are Carter (now 10.5) and his Sister Olivia (now 9), who are both extremely passionate about animals and conservation.
We work hard at raising awareness to the issue of Plastic Pollution and the affects on all animals, to humans and to our environment. We also work with various agencies around the world seeking to provide the more than 1,000 species currently listed as Endangered or on the Threatened, list with the resources needed to ensure they survive at least One More Generation… and beyond.
Chris Brown is breeding and selling pit bulls because, if anything: 1) we are suffering a SIGNIFICANT shortage of pits right now, and there aren’t, like, a ridiculous number of pit-specific rescue organizations from which you can adopt one for a fraction of $1,000 (here’s a fantastic one, just off the top of my head!), and 2) Chris Brown is working hard to maintain a crispy-clean image, one that 100% DOES NOT contribute to the suffering of ANY creature.
Also, keep in mind that Big Boi owns a bully kennel in Atlanta, which gives me a GIGANTIC :(
[TRIGGER WARNING: Animal abuse, animal cruelty]
Last year I received a video showing Cesar Millan (aka the “dog whisperer”) hanging a husky who was ill-behaved. This treatment of a sentient being named Shadow sickened me and I soon discovered that many others also were horrified by this so-called “training” session. (For further discussion please see Mark Derr’s “Pack of Lies.”)
Fox hunting is a highly emotive and contentious issue, with both pro and anti hunters strongly defending their beliefs. But which side is right?
Photo by Matt Cardy
The Hunting Act 2004 bans hunting with dogs in the UK and Wales. Since then, there have been…
The research was carried out by David MacDonald, a very prominent biologist and conservationist, who spent 30 years studying, tagging and raising foxes, making him one of our greatest experts on fox biology and behavior. His research has helped change our understanding of foxes forever.
Generally, foxes aren’t ‘pursued until exhaustion’, as hunts often don’t last that long, and the fox is easily able to slip away. And while a clean shot may be far quicker, not every shot kills the animal outright, and the fox may be left suffering for days or weeks from a gunshot wound.
I read your post. I know who apparently put this information forth. I still call bullshit. To say that the animals don’t realize their lives are in danger while being pursued by predators is simply ridiculous. They may not realize it as a human would, but animals have a fight or flight response. They know self-preservation and fear. To say the fox is suffering no undue trauma from being pursued by a pack of dogs is absurd.
Hunting with a gun would almost always result in a quicker and more humane kill. And if you can’t shoot straight, you shouldn’t be hunting in the first place.
Eh, you can’t just assume how the fox feels. Proper, scientific field research is the best way to discover how foxes are affected by it, and if the research concludes it doesn’t cause them trauma, then why should it be wrong? Research is based on facts, not sentimentality. Unless there’s another scientific study done that can prove otherwise, I’m inclined to believe MacDonald’s findings.
Lmao… you can’t just assume how the fox feels? I’m not assuming anything. I’m basing what I think off of scientific research. I’m pretty sure that all mammals have a fight or flight response, that they all have a stress response to being pursued by predators. I’m also pretty sure that scientific research supports this. I’m pretty sure that foxes aren’t excluded from this just because a fox biologist has decided they are.
I’d like to see how he determined that the foxes aren’t unduly traumatized by these hunts as well.
Fox hunting is a highly emotive and contentious issue, with both pro and anti hunters strongly defending their beliefs. But which side is right?
Photo by Matt Cardy
The Hunting Act 2004 bans hunting with dogs in the UK and Wales. Since then, there have been…
The research was carried out by David MacDonald, a very prominent biologist and conservationist, who spent 30 years studying, tagging and raising foxes, making him one of our greatest experts on fox biology and behavior. His research has helped change our understanding of foxes forever.
Generally, foxes aren’t ‘pursued until exhaustion’, as hunts often don’t last that long, and the fox is easily able to slip away. And while a clean shot may be far quicker, not every shot kills the animal outright, and the fox may be left suffering for days or weeks from a gunshot wound.
I read your post. I know who apparently put this information forth. I still call bullshit. To say that the animals don’t realize their lives are in danger while being pursued by predators is simply ridiculous. They may not realize it as a human would, but animals have a fight or flight response. They know self-preservation and fear. To say the fox is suffering no undue trauma from being pursued by a pack of dogs is absurd.
Hunting with a gun would almost always result in a quicker and more humane kill. And if you can’t shoot straight, you shouldn’t be hunting in the first place.
