Ruthie, with Special Needs Dobermans

Ruthie is one of Special Needs Dobermans' newest general funds cases. She was found in Ohio, dumped at the intersection of two county roads (yes, in THIS weather, which I'm sure is similarly frigid throughout the country) [hush, Florida]. She's with a foster home through Southwest Ohio Doberman Rescue, and they speculate she could be between 8 and 10.

(picture is from Special Needs Dobermans Facebook page)

Tell them what they don't want to hear

Lots of people buy dogs every year. Lots of people buy puppies every year. They get them from a pet store, or the newspaper, or Craigslist. They get them from a breeder that advertised their litter on the AKC web site. Every day.

So, what's wrong with this?

Some blasts from the past

I've been unpleasantly sick this week, so little "real" blogging is to be had. I figured I'd take today to link to some of my older posts, from "before I was cool" (I tried this on my writing blog, with what seems like minimal success. I guess that one isn't cool yet?) Truth be told, without the computer and blog, I'd be pretty confused regarding what day it is; missing work does throw one for a loop. But there we go, it's after Wordless Wednesday, so that means it's Thursday

When is a breeder a puppy mill?

Too frequently in dog news, there are stories that hurt my heart.

Not everybody feels the same way about dogs. I get that. Not every breeder feels the same way about their dogs, and I get that too. But there should be an accepted baseline, you know?

There are the sorts kinds of things that bring the AKC under fire, as the New York Times reported last week. The AKC evidently has a total of 9 people for the entire country, to carry out inspections of this sort. And that's only if somebody calls them in, I daresay. The AKC is a breed registry, and a pedigree database. That's really it. They claim to be an animal welfare agency, and I know that they are a registered not for profit, but what is the point at which welfare is called into question? How many puppies makes a puppy mill? How much poop needs to pile up before conditions are  considered bad enough? How many cages, stacked or otherwise?