From what I can gather, because feral cats are target practice on state land, it is only the much, much larger tracts of private property with some undeveloped, generally unfrequented areas that host small colonies.

Houston…We have ignition.

Thanks again.

We know that our older kitty would dearly love to be allowed outside our apartment but (a) we live in a small city that has too much traffic for him to be safe and (b) we can tell that he would be a bird-killer and it would be unfair to the local bird population to let him decimate them. So he stays indoors with his feather toys.

It is open season on feral cats (and dogs, unless we get there first) year round here, because hunters do like their gamebirds and everyone detests feral dogpacks running whitetail. But awhile back, birders raised serious concerns about feral feline depradations on other bird populations, and we began to shift our focus a bit…to rapidly reduce the expanding feral feline population before they were “demonized” as useless pests, and deliberately hunted.

But we cannot semi-tame them all, and you’ve given us something to work with here. Thanks for the headsup. Gonna put it out on the board…get feedback, and talk to our vets and DNR officers…

Okay Sarah…you have your world absent responsible breeders, (and I’m guessing you do not include the sporting/herder breeds under the heading of “service dogs.”) So…shepards, labs, golden retrievers, dobies, bloodhounds, and so on and so forth make the cut. Which breeds, in your view…do not?

Where do our local dairy farms get their cattle dogs? Where do sheep farmers find their herd protectors? Where do apt dwellers find appropriate size and temperment dogs for their lifestyle? (I’ve got a Great Pyr rescue, first purebred ever, that has taken the place of my shotgun in warding off coyotes and marauder feral canines.) And where do hunters get their birddogs? And so on…

I see no problem in multi-purpose dogs. In my experience, dogs with a purpose outside of loving companionship are happy dogs.

I get what you are saying…and the motley crew that graces our homestead, are in fact the “unadoptables.” But I have no problem breeding dogs for specific purposes, and no problem with responsible breeders. And certainly, no problem with responsible people who educate themselves, and get the breed that is right for them.

But do they owe me an explanation for their choices? no. That’s nto to say any choice shouldn’t be examined, but in the end, they don’t owe anybody to make any choice. They are willing to share many aspects of their personal lives with their readers, but that does not mean they must defer to their readers for any decisions in their life.

If we fight for the freedom of choice, how dare some of us judge and shame another for their choice?

Are you serious? You seem to find the prospect of a world w/out breeders unbelievable. Why?

With the exception of service dogs breeders (or more accurately, trainers), they are completely unnecessary.
Absent breeders, homeless dogs would not have to “compete” with sniny new purebreds and/or designer dogs for loving homes. ALL dogs deserve loving homes, of course; but it is reckless to create new lives while hundreds of thousands of others are homeless. There are literally hundreds of thousands of dogs waiting for homes. They are not “damaged goods” and they’re not to blame for their predicaments. If people wanted to, they could definitely find the perfect shelter dog for them and their lifestyle.

A world without breeders (save service dogs) is entirely imaginable and certainly preferable to the world we have today.

So this is really all about breeders? And nothing more?

Please…tell us how you envision dog life absent breeders. Tell us how this works…

Copying and off to your site.

Zuzu,
I was just responding to your comment that it costs a lot to run a website. I won’t bring it up again.