Chicagoland Area Animal Adopts

The dog overpopulation problem is not caused by responsible breeders. They are not the problem. Responsible breeders of purebred dogs require the buyer to sign an agreement that if they are unable to care for the animal it must be returned to the breeder. These breeder then will find a new home for the animal and if the dog is purchased as opposed to being adopted the breeder gives a portion of the money to the original owner as incentive for them to abide by the contract so the dog is returned to a safe and healthy environment.

The biggest problem is irresponsible humans who buy a puppy out of pure emotion and then have buyers remorse.

Why enact another feel good law that is not and can not be properly enforced.

We have laws in Chicago that require a dog have a rabies tag - rarely enforced.

Then there is the DFA tag - again where is it enforced.

Go to any dog park in the city and I am willing to bet that 70% of the dogs have no DFA tags and many have no rabies tags. Yet, have you ever called 911 or 311 to have an officer come and issue citations? Never happens.

Smoking in city parks is now banned - no enforcement.

Both a violation for no rabies or DFA tags carry heavy fines - still no enforcement.

Chicago has a ban on making or receiving a cell call while driving (unless it is over hands free) when was the last time you saw a cop issue a ticket.

I can go on and on.

I would propose a list of remedies that together may make a dent in the problem.

1. Require a cooling off period of 5 days before a person can take home the purchased or rescued dog.

2. Ban the breeding of all but AKC recognized breeds

3. Make it illegal for anyone including vets from altering the appearance of fighting breed dogs. Such a ban might help
reduce the number of dogs that are trained to fight since having intact tails and ears would not make them good
candidates for fighting. Existing dogs could be issued tags showing the were altered prior to the ban. An altered Pit
without a tag & the owner gets a $500.00 fine.

4. Now this will sound horrible - but maybe we have to face the very undesirable fact that dogs not adopted after a
reasonable period of time should be put down.

5. Last but not least, ban the sale of all puppies from retail stores. If a person can afford a purebred they can go directly
to a licensed reputable breeder. And remember, that a breeder is usually a specialist in one breed of dog. If someone
boasts about their vast variety of puppy breeds they are not a breeder - they are a puppy mill. Turn and run from
them.

In our society today it is rare that we need new laws, but we do need our laws enforced.

It is more likely we need new public officials.

The dog overpopulation problem is not caused by responsible breeders. They are not the problem.

I know this. That's why I said backyard breeders.

Responsible breeders of purebred dogs require the buyer to sign an agreement that if they are unable to care for the animal it must be returned to the breeder. These breeder then will find a new home for the animal and if the dog is purchased as opposed to being adopted the breeder gives a portion of the money to the original owner as incentive for them to abide by the contract so the dog is returned to a safe and healthy environment.

Every breeder has different requirements and different contracts so while I understand what you're saying, again - these aren't the people they're targeting, these are the people who will be able to purchase licenses to continue running their legitimate business.

The biggest problem is irresponsible humans who buy a puppy out of pure emotion and then have buyers remorse

No, the biggest problem is the backyard breeders who breed any old dog with any other old dog and get 5 puppies, then give those puppies away to people who have more backyard puppies... But yes, buyers remorse is a large part of the problem. But then there's 10 million other reasons why people give up their pets. The point is, there wouldn't be so many pets to give up if there weren't so many having more puppies. Do the math.


I agree that it's going to be tough to enforce this, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be a law/ordinance. If the logic is, lawbreakers will be lawbreakers so don't make it a law, then why make any laws?

2. Ban the breeding of all but AKC recognized breeds

You're contradicting yourself here...how are you going to enforce that if you can't enforce a spay/neuter ordinance??

4. Now this will sound horrible - but maybe we have to face the very undesirable fact that dogs not adopted after a
reasonable period of time should be put down.

As far as I understand, PAWS and ACS are two of the only remaining shelters that either don't euthanize period (PAWS I believe is no-kill, right?) or like ACS where as long as the dog is of good temperament and good health, they remain on the adoption floor. Every other shelter I know of has a time limit, hence why programs like Drive For Life are in place...to transport animals who's time is up to a no-kill shelter, or one that has some space open.

5. Last but not least, ban the sale of all puppies from retail stores. If a person can afford a purebred they can go directly
to a licensed reputable breeder. And remember, that a breeder is usually a specialist in one breed of dog. If someone
boasts about their vast variety of puppy breeds they are not a breeder - they are a puppy mill. Turn and run from
them.

I agree with this, however you're going to be shutting down every pet store in Chicago and that's going to get a lot more opposition since you're shutting "reputable" and legal business down than just requiring all pets to be spayed or neutered.

It is more likely we need new public officials.

I agree.

Your blog is interesting!

Keep up the good work!