Bottom of the Barrel

This is another in my semi-regular series where I take the lowliest of the Insignificant Microbes, linking to that blogger, and trying hard to say something nice about his or her blog. And hey, if anyone else wants to take up the idea, go ahead. Liz is already doing it! (Okay, I admit, this is just a stalling technique because I have a couple of posts that are taking too long to write.)

Today's contestant is nunber 8076, The Wild Blue Yonder. This is a test for me, like Redeye wondered about in the comments to the last of these threads, because he (I assume it's a he, it's not clear) is a Republican. From Texas, no less. The first three links on the page are to Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and Townhall.com.

But he doesn't really talk about politics, at least not in the last few months. (If I were a Republican, I wouldn't either!). Instead, he's got a cute puppy, named--you guessed it--George W. Beagle, or Dubya for short. So I was quite surprised to see posts with titles like "Dubya's growing up!" and "Dubya graduates!" While the puppy is cute, I must take issue with something: He got the puppy from a breeder.

Not only are Sarah and I not breeders (of any sort!) ourselves, all of our pets--except for the rats we had in college--have been rescues. We got George, Louise, and Peter from the House Rabbit Society; Alex was a pound cat; and Maggie came from the Great Pyrenees Resucue of Greater Chicago. The reason why there are always so many dogs, cats, and more animals at rescues and shelters is that there are too many breeders, too many puppy mills and kitty farms.

Now, it could be worse, and Mr. Yonder could have gotten Dubya through a pet shop, which often rely on lower-quality breeders to provide lots of animals fast. And, to be fair, I clicked through to the breeder's site linked to on Yonder's page, and there didn't seem to be anything too additionally evil about them beyond just the fact that they are breeders. But, I encourage all of you--my three or four loyal readers--to check with shelters, breed rescues, and the like rather than finding a breeder or a pet store for your next pet. (And then, of course, get 'em fixed!)

< /righteous indignation>

UPDATE: I should, in all honesty, point out that not all animal breeders are evil: Many breeders care for the breed, are careful with lineage and where they place the pets, and so on. Still, if you can, go through a rescue, not a breeder.