I have wanted to ask this for some time, breeders and shelter cats

My view on this is as follows:

How did all these moggies get in the shelter to begin with? Virtually none of them are breed cats.
They are ferals, abandoned cats and kittens, owner surrenders, hoarder seizures, the offspring of irresponsible pet owners who don't get their animals spay/neutered.
Breeders and people who want a breed cat shouldn't have to feel guilty because the shelters are full of moggies. They are full because other people have behaved irresponsibly.


The shelter problem is never going to go away, because people will never learn to do the right thing.

It's the rare "purebred" cat that ends up in the shelter. That isn't true of dogs; a good portion of our dogs are purebreds, some even have papers.

We DO have some very good-looking or even breed-looking cats in the shelter, but often those are escapees whose owners pick them up quickly (two yesterday!).

I am not a breeder and I most likely will not have a purebred since I have no interest at all in obtaining a show-cat. But I have to agree with Kai. The kitties in the shelter are due to irresponsible pet owners that refuse to get their pets spayed or neutered. They let them have litter after litter and what they can't give away, they dump in the shelters. From what I have read, most breeders will spay or neuter the kitten before it goes to their new home, or if not, it is a requirement to adopting one.

If everyone would fix their pets, there would not be any unwanted kitties begging for a home. But people will continue to let their girls reproduce. They will continue to let their boys impregnate the little girl next door, or maybe their own sister.

My girls were spayed before their first heat and they are indoor cats. They never go outside. People need to be responsible for their own actions and not come down on the ethical breeders. Now the unethical "breeders" is a whole new story that I don't really want to get into right now. LOL

I have to agree with others. The cats in the shelter are there because of societies lack of responsibility for them. I will always discourage a person who knows nothing about breeding o allow their cat to become pregnant. I applaud good, responsible breeders that do so to strengthen a geneological line of cats.

Shelters are a double edged sword. By allowing people to dispose of their pets there with no accountability towards them, does it encourage people to view animals as disposable pets? Perhaps that's why I've taken in nothing but feral born or abandoned on the streets cats for the last 20 years.

I can't add anything to what the above posters have written. I have a Siamese that I would never apologize for. He was and is my dream cat. Without our responsible breeders, the different breeds of animals would die out and that would be a loss to everyone.

If irresponsible pet owners had a fraction of the knowledge and expertise of the good breeders, there would not be any unwanted animals in shelters. Their animals would be loved enough that the owner would spay/neuter for the health of their animals. Unfortunately this isn't likely to happen any time soon.

If by designer animals you refer to specific mixed breeds such as cockapoos, then I would agree. These are not purebred animals bred to further a good quality line.

I personally don't think so. The numbers of breed cats compared to moggies is vastly smaller.

As example let's use TCS as a microcosm, comparing it's members to the world's cat owners.

Of all the members here, there are a very small number of people who own breed cats. Miniscule in proportion to the members who own moggies.

It is the same throughout the world. Eliminating breed cats and their availablity by ceasing to breed them would have no measureable effect on the shelter populations.

Some breed cat owners would simply elect not have a cat or perhaps they would choose a dog instead. I'm quite sure we wouldn't see cats flying out of shelters into new homes.

I have every respect for those who choose a specific breed, I grew up in a house with only english springer spaniels--though we did try and look into breed adoption, none ever seemed to fit our family.

Every animal needs a home regardless of whether it was bred intentially or unintentionally, I don't think its my right to judge who gets which one. My signature says a lot about my views on pets. I think that one should try their best to adopt first, whether that be purebred or moggie but regardless spaying or neutering prevents an owner from ADDING to the pet overpopulation. At this point we aren't going to end it, but we can stop it from growing--and the problem honestly lies within owners of moggies.

Leslie

I could not, in good conscience, ever go to a breeder, EVER.

Good breeders are, IMO, few and far between, but there ARE good breeders.

IMO there are strict guidelines a breeder has to follow before I will say the breeder is a GOOD breeder.

1. A good breeder will neuter ALL animals before they leave the breeder, ALL. IF, on the offchance an animal bears a "show quality" animal, said breeder should keep the animal until someone comes along that the breeder KNOWS is a show person.

2. Litters, at the most, every other year, NO oftener.

3. A good breeder also does rescue.

4. A good breeder will take back each and every animal they have bred if the need arises.

5. A breeder should microchip every, single animal it has bred to the breeder.

I, definitely, do not agree with breeders that stud out their males, I think it is dispicable as there is no way they have any control over the litters, in most cases.

I think all puppy mills and back yard breeders should be outlawed.

It has been very convincingly argued that if there were a national free spay/neuter program for pets belonging to the lower income brackets, the feral/stray/overbreeding problem would virtually disappear.

On the other hand, I would say that 50% of the stray/surrender dogs that come into our shelter are pit bulls. Most of them were bred purposely, even if they're not papered.

This is totally off topic, but I need to point out to you, that this is not a healthy option for the queens or studs in a breeding program.

Allowing queens to cycle in and out of heat for a year is asking for disasterous
results. Pyometra likely being the first health problem to appear, which threatens the queens life, and 9 times out of 10 results in an emergency spay operation.
Also keeping a whole male who is not allowed to breed to calling queens, makes for a very upset frustrated stud who will likely develope behavior problems and stress related illness.

And lest I forget to mention, queens in heat that don't get mated will resort to urine marking in their desperate efforts to attract a male.

As evidenced by my foster cat (who is a moggie...they're always moggies) who is awaiting her spay appointment (with left eye removal, thus the wait)...come on September 3rd!!!

I have a purebred cat, and I don't feel the least bit guilty about it. I have rescued and fostered more cats than most who say I shouldn't have a purebred (not talking about the OP, but others out in this world). When all those people catch up to me, then maybe I'll listen to them.

As an retired breeder I have to put in my 2 cents on this.

First of all most all breeders at one time (or even now) have had mixed breed adopted cats/strays they have taken in to live the same good life of their purebred brothers and sisters. Very few only have purebred cats.

Second, reputable & responsible breeders take the time to test their cats for health, line up homes for most of the litter, spay/neuter the kittens BEFORE they go to their homes and in general really care about each one of their cats they own - they are fully responsible for every kitten they produce.

And usually they only allow the females a few litters before they are retired to loving homes (spayed).

I do NOT believe in the "buy a purebred kitten and one of the shelter cats will die" that many push as a reason to not buy a purebred. That's so untrue. Shelter cats die because of the irresponsible owners who allow their mixed breed cats outside to breed and then wonder "what do I do now with all these kittens?".

How many backyard breeders neuter and spay their kittens? Hardly any - and they give the kittens away too soon because they don't want the responsibility to care for them for 3 months and neuter and spay them before leaving. They are the ones that in turn send most of their kittens to the shelter directly or indirectly. They don't require the new owners to spay/neuter either.

Don't be blaming responsible purebred breeders for the cats in shelters who have no home. Blame the irresponsible backyard breeders.

Ok off my soapbox now

I have two adopted cats from a shelter. That said, I have nothing but admiration for 'real' breeders - those who are improving a given breed, and who are responsible in both breeding, selling, and placing retired cats.

I've attended three cat shows (TICA and CFA) near me - I was touched by each show doing something to benefit local shelters (e.g., discounting entry fees if you made a donation to the shelter, in kind or in money). I'm also pleased that the Cat Fancy magazine regularly has articles regarding shelters and rescue pets. I think there's room for both groups - but I do wish that backyard breeders could be regulated out of existence, along with pet mills, and that more people would receive the education they need to discern who are reputable breeders, and who are not.

I do have to agree here - I've seen a lot of people with purebreds & moggies - or who got a purebred, fell in love with cats - and ended up in rescue.

You will find - that on the other end of the spectrum - there are many people out there who would never get a shelter cat - they are seeking the specific characteristics of a breed - thus would either buy a purebred or not have a cat.

Reputable breeders do not contribute to the pet overpopulation - as they *always* take their cats back, spay/neuter prior to placing pet quality, and ensure show quality cats go to good homes. It's the people with farm cats who are allowed to breed out of control, the people who don't spay/neuter their pet, or who release an intact animal after getting tired of it who cause overpopulation problems.

I really hope all the breeders on this forum neuter their animals before they sell them. That is the #1 most important thing IMO.

I agree with you, and I also think it is a great idea to have all sold animals microchipped back to the breeder (dogs and cats). It would also be great if the purchaser could be also placed in the microchip information.

Most every reputable breeder I know spays/neuters and takes back your cat if you cannot keep him/her.

However, I'm against microchipping for personal reasons.

I've heard some of the arguments against microchipping. However, two cats that came into our shelter on Saturday were returned to their owners the same day because they were microchipped. In one case, the owner didn't even know the cat had gotten out.

Mine have gotten to that point, since our neutered male went to Rainbow Bridge (he didn't know he was fixed; all the fun for them, none of the kittens). I haven't found anything to do about it except snap my fingers to distract them when I see it about to happen, and clean a lot.

The money I've been waiting on to get them fixed is in my bank account and the hold will be off tomorrow so first thing tomorrow morning I'm going to the humane society for low-cost spay certificates so it's almost over. It's taken longer than I planned when I got them, but I managed to keep them from littering in the meantime.

I'm not against responsible breeding because I think it helps maintain a standard for how well all cats should be taken care of. I despise puppy mill type operations though and would like to stick the humans in charge of them in critter crates to see how they like it.

It is that word "Most" that equates to: NOT a reputable breeder.
IMO, you cannot be a reputable breeder and not spay/neuter before the animals leave your premises. No, ifs ands or buts about it.

I don't think, "The Mark" pertains to animals Golden.


I am going out on a limb here and assuming.

I do think that the majority of breeders are not responsible (and Siamese and Persians are not uncommon in shelters), but I have no argument with the truly responsible breeders. Though I have no particular affinity for any of the pure breeds and I'd never buy one, but not because I'm against them, just because I see no point in it for me.

The overpopulation problem is complicated. Even if spaying was free and easily accessible to everybody, there would still be an overpopulation problem. You can't cure stupid.

I wouldn't buy a purebred animal. I'd rather let nature take its course than have artificial selection and breeding by people. It used to be necessary in the past when people used animals for work but now we are beyond this so I don't think breeding is necessary since I don't find any benefits to having purebred cats..With dogs I do though. I don't judge people for buying purebreds though, it's their choice and I dont' judge breeders. They have nothing to do with people abandoning their pets and not spaying/neutering them unless they are irresponsible breeders who sell their pets before spaying/neutering them.