There are tens of thousands of four-legged reasons for not breeding your pets. They occupy hundreds of Welfare and Rescue kennels all over the world. You would like to breed your cute cross breed as you want a puppy just like him/her. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt. Many a dog has lived a long and happy life without ever having had to mate. The fact is, a bitch will only allow him to mate her when she is in season and the chances are that she will then become pregnant and can have as many as 12 pups! Do you want to be held responsible for that?

There are many people at the moment battling to find homes for their puppies. The unfortunate is that they may end up having to put them to sleep or be forced to give them away to unsuitable homes. As there are so many abused and abandoned dogs out there looking for homes, please give them a thought (and a chance of finding a home) and don’t breed unnecessarily. If your bitch is in season, keep her away from male dogs or have her neutered. There is a lot of interbreeding and bad breeding in Zambia which result in problem dogs, behavioral and physical. People don’t seem to realise that a dog with a bad temperament, hip dyspepsia and other hereditary problems will pass them on to their offspring. If you seriously want a pedigree dog without problems call the Kennel Club for details of registered breeders in Zambia. The situation is worse with cats. In fact it is out of control as there are thousands of feral cats in Lusaka alone. Cats cannot be contained, so you may fool yourself into thinking that your cat is up to no nonsense and then be surprised to find she’s had a litter of kittens! On the other hand, your male cat could be out at night siring many unwanted litters! I am often asked to find homes for cats but fail miserably. For some reason they are undesirable to many, so please, if you can have your pets neutered! Both cats and dogs can come into season as early as 6 months of age. The season will last for about 3 weeks and will reoccur twice a year. Your pet can be sterilized at 6 months of age.
Don't Breed or Buy While Shelter Animals Die!
I wish you could see as I sit here today,
Tears filling my eyes, the loss In my heart...
For a dog unknown to you.

Her body strong, her eyes bright,
Gleaming with anticipation for any little treat.

Locked in a cage for more than a month,
Her hope never faded, Her trust never waived...
Though her card said "Caution,"
With love she obeyed.
Sitting up straight on her hard plastic bed
Begging once more, "Just please scratch my head"
My love for this pup was hard to endure,
For the day before her time was due, I gave her a bone
which she dropped to the floor.
She knew...I had come to say goodbye.I cursed the owner for Shawna's fate! When next someone exclaims:
"How could you work here?"
No, we're not to blame, only doing your dirty-work
With anger, not shame. Not "Puppy-killers," or "evil"...
Just the last loving hand to say goodbye...
I wrote this about only one out of thousands of dogs who die at shelters every year. Although the public perceives kennel workers as unfeeling and cold, my heart gets broken every day at this job ... but I'm still strong enough to be here, because even if it's just one I can help or save, then I've done my job.

-An anonymous kennel worker

The San Diego Union-Tribune, Wednesday, September 16,1998

Considering Breeding? You may have heard this all before, but ....
Breeding dogs is a wonderfully rewarding endeavor. To produce good specimens of a particular breed, in each generation aiming to strengthen the assets of your adults and to correct whatever shortcomings have existed in previous generations (and sometimes succeeding), welcoming the little warm bodies into your world, watching them develop in the first few weeks into small replicas of their parents but with their own physical and behavioral characteristics, helping them grow into emotionally and physically beautiful creatures, holding on to some of the finest puppies, finding homes for the others with people who will continue the nurturing you have begun--very rewarding, indeed.
All of this requires a dedication to the breed and to the individual animals involved in the breeding program, both parents and offspring, that not everyone possesses. Most serious breeders must work for a living to support their dog "habit," but all of their free time is spent in the pursuit of some dog activity or piece of dog-related knowledge.
You should not breed your dog unless you have a thorough knowledge of the physical structure and characteristics which make your breed what it is, and know that your dog meets these criteria. Attending dog shows and seminars and associating with people in your breed club as well as reading every piece of information you can find on your breed--and dogs in general--are the best way to gain this knowledge and to discover how your dog fits into the scheme of things.
You should breed your dog only if you can meet the above criteria AND are financially capable of caring for the bitch during her pregnancy and delivery (just for "chuckles"--or gasps--check with your veterinarian about the cost and possible problems involved with a cesarean section), can handle the cost of time lost from work to help care for mother and babies; the expense of a series of at least two immunizations and two wormings that will be required for all the puppies before they leave your home, as well as incidentals like food, vitamins, and other veterinary costs.
You must also be prepared for the possibility of complications which may endanger your dog's life--puppybirth, like childbirth, has many dangers. Many puppies don't survive the birthing process or the first few weeks--are you emotionally prepared to bury baby puppies, or maybe even your favorite mother dog? Raising puppies takes time. "Mom" cares for them pretty well the first three weeks or so, but from then on it is up to you to begin to socialize them and/or introduce them to many different stimuli (while protecting them from trauma and disease, of course). They all need individual attention by humans and should learn at this time to interact with humans to some extent. Once you begin to feed them, they require meals at least three times a day--and you cannot forget, or skip a meal because you're tired!! "Pickup" and other sanitation chores become more and more intense as the days go by, as the puppies grow in size and output.And then there's the challenge of finding perfect homes for each and every puppy that you sell or give away. Screening prospective owners is time consuming and difficult for all of us, since we are often dealing with total strangers we have to make judgments about. And since you produced these dogs, it is your responsibility to be a "fall-back" home for them if your placements fail--for the life of the dog.

It really is "all right" to own a purebred dog that is not a "perfect" representative of its breed. Even among serious dog breeders (and by this I mean people who are totally involved in the dog show/breeding scene) there are no "perfect" representatives of the breed, but they are constantly striving toward this goal, constantly learning, constantly searching for dogs that more closely represent the breed or which might bring the proper mix of genes to improve their own lines, etc. These people spend a huge amount of time and money in the pursuit of the perfect dog. But breeding your pet dog (who really doesn't approach perfection, although he or she may be perfect to you) just adds more pet dogs to the legions of pet dogs that end up in shelters.
What Is A Puppy Mill? While doing research about puppy mills, I came across many articles written about the dog industry. In 1903 Mark Twain wrote a very controversial story in Harper's Monthly. This story, called "A Dog's Tale" was nearly a century before its time and yet only Mark Twain could get away with writing a story like this…in 1903 or 2003. The story details the life...and death of a research puppy and the story is told by the mother of the puppy.
The story starts in the normal Twain captivating way:
My father was a St. Bernard, my mother was a collie, but I am a Presbyterian.
In 1965, American's eyes were open to the real horror of puppy mills. Dogs at this time were not bred for pet shops, but instead for research. When I feel like I will never make a difference in the world of the puppy mills, I need only to remind myself of a wonderful dog named 'Pepper'. In a rare and classic stand made by Sports Illustrated in November of 1965, "The Lost Pets That Stray To Labs" , by Coles Phinizy, started out:
It is fence-mending time on Capitol Hill now, and the halls of Congress are deserted-except perhaps for the ghost of a dog named Pepper.
Pepper was a Dalmatian that was stolen in Pennsylvania. Pepper's owner searched for her and finally traced her to (what we now call) a 'buncher' near her. She was powerless to do anything, as there were no laws that prohibited dogs from being stolen and sold to research. Before Pepper's owner could get anyone to listen to her, Pepper was sold to research, experimented on and then euthanize.
Sport's Illustrated was followed by an article in Life Magazine in 1966. "Concentration Camps for Dogs" was America's first look at the horrors of puppy mills. The pictures I saw in this article still haunt me.
In 1992, Life Magazine again wrote an article about puppy mills. This article was called "Not Fit For a Dog." The author of that article was Mr. Jack McClintock. He wrote:
"Puppy mill" is a postwar American coinage, used to denote commercial breeding operations that mass-produce supposedly pedigreed dogs for sale in pet shops across the nation. These establishments first proliferated-and were decried-in the 1960's.
Despite this definition, many people still want to picture a puppy mill as a dirty, illegal place with hundreds of sick and dying dogs. Everyone's idea of a puppy mill should be based on their own feelings about how dogs should be treated. There are over 3000 licensed and legal commercial breeders in the United States.
So, what is a puppy mill? Plain and simple it is no different than a steel mill, sawmill, grain mill or paper mill. A puppy mill is the starting point of a product that is mass-produced and destined for the retail industry…via wholesale channels. Puppy mills don't have to be dirty, they don't have to be illegal, they don't have to have sick and dying dogs…they just have to produce dogs for the wholesale dog industry.
I hope that you enjoy my website (perhaps 'enjoy' isn't the right word). I hope you find it factual and easy to follow. My name is Kim Townsend and I am the author of this website. My only goal of this website is to educate you about the real truth behind the wholesale dog industry. I'm not a group or organization. I'm not affiliated with any animal rights groups or humane organizations. I am one person here to educate you so that you will be able to make a difference in this world.
Every one of us has a 'gift' to give when it comes to animals. Some of us can foster homeless animals, some of us can help with transporting homeless dogs to new homes, some of us are ready and able to accept a homeless animal into our families. Still others are in a position to educate through media. Some have financial resources available to help, others can write letters and organize petitions. There is something for everyone that is willing to get involved. I can't help you decide what you should do. One thing is certain; you must first be educated before you can proceed. I hope I accomplish that so that you…and thousands like you…can be the voice that Pepper the Dalmatian never had.

Sunday, December 10, 1995
The Philadelphia
Inquirer

Breeding Dogs --
and Disease Pennsylvania's prolific
kennels have spawned viruses and genetic defects. Some
buyers get puppies that die within days.

Puppy mills ruin the family pet

By Karl Stark
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER