HelpingAnimals.com // Help An Animal // Factsheets // The AKC and Dog Breeders: Partners in Crime

If you’ve decided to welcome a dog into your family, you may be considering buying a puppy from a breeder. While many potential canine guardians have heard about the horrors of puppy mills and “backyard breeders,” they mistakenly think that buying a puppy from a so-called responsible breeder is acceptable. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Why Breeding Dogs Is Killing Dogs
Approximately 6 to 8 million animals are handled by animal shelters in the United States each year. Some are reclaimed or adopted, but nearly 4 million unwanted dogs and cats are left with nowhere to go.(1) Animal shelters cannot humanely house and support all these animals until they die of natural causes—the animals would be forced to live for years, lonely and stressed, in cramped cages or kennels. And other animals would have to be turned away because there would be no room for them.

The births and deaths of millions of homeless animals could be reduced and prevented through spaying and neutering. Yet countless numbers of puppies are born every day, thanks to breeders who often breed closely related dogs in order to retain certain breed characteristics. Not only does this contribute to the overpopulation crisis, it has also led to genetic diseases in virtually every breed. Because the gene pool is so limited, there are now more hereditary canine diseases (about 370) than there are dog breeds

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HelpingAnimals.com // Help An Animal // Factsheets // The AKC and Dog Breeders: Partners in Crime