It’s the day after Thanksgiving, so it’s time to think about Christmas! And, like clockwork, the dogblogosphere is again abuzz about “Christmas Puppies.” Much ado about next to nothing, I say.
Caveat does a nice recap of several other dog blogs covering the issue with some advice thrown in. Raised By Wolves chimes in with an excellent bit of psychoanalysis of the people who buy dogs from store windows in malls. It’s well worth the long read. SmartDogs notices the trend and repeats the rules (no gift pets, no pet stores). Everyone’s favorite No Kill advocate, Nathan Winograd, exposes a few more myths about Christmas Pets. No Christmas Puppies is such a staple over at Pet Connection that they leave the category link up all year round.
And why not? The advice isn’t any different than the slew of posts last year:
The most popular Christmas meme was “Don’t buy Christmas Puppies!” Pet Connection ran a slew of posts on the topic: Holiday shopping season begins, and the puppy-millers are ready!, A pet is not a toy. A pet is not a toy. Rinse. Repeat., As another storm moves in, remember the puppy-mill dogs …, Christmas puppies: Testing my own advice, How to ‘save’ puppy-mill dogs: Don’t buy them, Christmas adoption bans; followed closely by Lassie Get Help: A dog is not a toy. Also: puppy mills suck.; Champlain Valley Pug Rescue tells us Why puppies should not be given as Christmas presents.; Lexiann at Favorite Pets questioned Puppies as Christmas Presents; The Bark Magazine blog agreed: Santa says: Adopt, Don’t Buy; and Johann the Dog kicked the trend off early: How much is that doggie in the window? And who could forget PeTA and their “Adopt, Never Buy” campaign.
That’s a lot of attention given to Christmas Puppies. Keeping that in mind, take a stab at the following questions:
- There are more {Dogs or Cats} as pets in America
- More households have {Dogs or Cats} as pets
- Pets given as gifts are {More or Less} likely to end up in a shelter
- Dogs purchased at pet stores are {More or Less} likely to end up in a shelter
- Dogs born in the owner’s home are {More or Less} likely to end up in a shelter
- Dogs adopted from a shelter are {More or Less} likely to end up back in a shelter
- Dogs acquired for under $30 are {More or Less} likely to end up in a shelter
- Dogs acquired for over $100 are {More or Less} likely to end up in a shelter
Rank the following sources of pets from where you believe most pets come from to the fewest number of pets come from:
Animal Shelter
Breeder
Friend/Family
Gift
Newspaper/Private Party
Pet Store
Puppy/Kitten from Own Pet
Stray
Veterinarian
Other
Now what do you suppose the facts on the ground would be to justify the “No Christmas Puppies,” “Adopt, Don’t Buy,” and “Don’t give an animal as a gift” messages?
It would be logical to assume that (1) Puppies are a larger problem than Kittens (both in numbers and in propensity to buy on a whim), as you don’t hear much at all about “No Christmas Kittens.” It would be logical to assume that (2) Giving a pet as a gift makes that pet more likely to be relinquished to a shelter. It would be logical to assume that (3) Pet store puppies are more likely to end up in shelters. It would be logical to assume that (4) a large percentage of people buy pets at Pet Stores. It would be logical to assume that (5) people who buy pets for money do more harm than good. It would be logical to assume that (6) people who buy pets from breeders or private parties are more likely to relinquish their pets than people who adopted them from shelters.
It would also be logical to assume that Gifts and Pet Stores are popular means of acquiring puppies.
All those assumptions are wrong. Just like you were once duped into thinking that there were flying reindeer–at least one with a radioactive glowing nose, an immortal fat old philanthropist, and the birthday of Jesus, if you believed any one of those assumptions above, you’ve been just as duped.
There are more Cats as pets in America. In 2001 there were an estimated 68.9 million cats and 61.6 million dogs as pets. Cats are also more likely to be acquired on a whim than dogs (more on that later).
Although, more households have Dogs as pets. In the same survey, 36.1% of US households had at least one dog (1.6 average) and 31.6% of housholds had at least one cat (2.1 average); another survey found that in 2000, 39% of homes had dogs and 34% had cats. AVMA Survey, 1997, 2002; APPMA Survey 2002.
Pets given as gifts are Less likely to end up in a shelter.
Dogs purchased at pet stores are Less likely to end up in a shelter.
Dogs born in the owner’s home are More likely to end up in a shelter.
Dogs adopted from a shelter are More likely to end up back in a shelter.
Dogs acquired for under $30 are More likely to end up in a shelter.
Dogs acquired for over $100 are Less likely to end up in a shelter.
Pets given as Gifts account for only 7% of acquired dogs and only 8% of dogs are bought at Pet Stores. The most common source of dogs is from Friends and Family at 34%.
As Table 10a shows, the data collected by Patronek et al (1996a) refute at least one cherished belief (that dogs received as gifts or from pet stores are more likely to be given up) and confirm a number of others (that age is an important factor in relinquishment of dogs).
The shelter community needs to be concerned that dogs acquired from their facilities are more likely to be relinquished and should emphasize the importance of pet care-givers establishing strong relationships with a veterinarian (their “other family doctor”).
– Acquisition of Pets, The State of the Animals II: 2003
As much as these bloggers mean well and their posts do shed critical light on the abomination that is the puppy mill industry, they’re barking up the wrong tree and smearing breeders right along with puppy mills. The message about puppy mills has obviously gotten through, and there’s only 8% more of the market that needs to be taken away from them before they’ll be a memory. But it’s apparently true that puppy mills do a better job of producing pets people keep than breeders of all merit and shelters when those are lumped together.
It also is pretty damning that equal numbers of people adopt from shelters and take in strays; yet, the dogs adopted at shelters are twice as likely to end up back in the shelter than the dogs taken in as strays. And shelter dogs fare worse than any other source, even free dogs.
The slandering against the puppy mills has splashed on to all breeders. And not one of those bloggers who railed against pet stores and gift puppies acknowledged that both of those factors actually keep pets in homes MORE than any other source. It’s confusing, it’s mind blowing, but it turns out that gift pets and pet store pets are the MOST likely to stay in homes and pets adopted by people who care so much that they “rescue” from shelters end up going back to shelters more than any other source.
And how about this for mind blowing, if you visit a vet with your dog AT LEAST ONCE, you decrease your chance of abandoning your pet by 86%. Take your pet to the vet at least once per year and halve your remaining chance. Twice or more per year, halve that chance again!
The relinquishment rate being so high for newborn puppies speaks again to the need for expanding the spay/neuter message even though 70% of dogs are already desexed. What else than ooops! pregnancies can account for all of those relinquished puppies and kittens and the largest source of dogs being what I can only imagine are ooops! litters from friends and family.
If you are a breeder, the most important benchmark of the ethics of you being one is your ability to sell the puppies you create. If you can’t sell puppies you are not a breeder, or at best a failed one. If you have to give puppies away to free or dump them in shelters, you are a failure.
The above chart is interesting. Very interesting. Most dogs and cats are acquired for little money from friends and family. The acquisition of dogs is also more likely to be planned than on a whim, which is not true for Cats. More cats are acquired on a whim than planned:
Pet care-givers acquire dogs and cats from a variety of sources. These sources are believed to play an integral role in pet population problems. According to the APPMA National Pet Owners Survey, pets in 1998 were acquired as indicated in Table 7 (APPMA 2000, 2002). Use of those sources marked with an asterisk indicates that some forethought and planning usually went into the acquisition of the pet.
The total percentage of dogs acquired from such sources is 74 (or about 48 percent of the identified sources); the total percentage of cats acquired from these sources is 38 (or about 29 percent of the identified sources). This indicates that cats are more likely to be acquired on a whim.
Other surveys have shown similar differences between the sources of dogs and cats. Nassar, Mosier, and Williams (1984) found that in Las Vegas cats (24.5 percent) were much more likely to be acquired from the stray population than dogs (8 percent), but only 9 percent of cats were purchased compared with 26 percent of dogs. In Massachusetts 71 percent of pet care-givers had planned to acquire their dogs, going to such sources as breeders (33 percent), shelters (16 percent), and pet stores (7 percent) (MSPCA 1996).
– Acquisition of Pets, The State of the Animals II: 2003
So there you go. Data found on the HSUS website speaks volumes to myths that people believe: That shelters do a good job at keeping pets in homes with their careful selection programs and temperament tests. Turns out that random loose dogs taken in off the street are twice as likely to stay in that home. That buying dogs is less ethical than adopting them, turns out that buying dogs even at pet stores is more successful than adopting them or getting them free from friends and family. That puppy mill and gift pets are the most likely to be abandoned. Turns out that they’re not.
Go figure.
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Excellent!
The most recent US census upped the dog population and percentage of households owning dogs, must dig it up.
I suspect that due to the relentless, longstanding campaign against acquiring pets at Christmas, the situation has changed from say, 20 years ago. Would be interesting to see.
And yeah, the animal rights/liberation crew hangs on to the ‘pet overpopulation’ myth as well as the ‘adopt, don’t buy’ finger wagging. It’s all about removing your freedom of choice. Duh.
Off to direct my reader to this excellent piece and to read the middle as well (incurable skimmer).
Oh, and thanks for the link.
I too have bought some Christmas gifts through PETsMART got all my pets.
Hold on — you are using statistics taken from the state of Indiana for some of your statements. I really, really am having trouble believing some of these statements still hold true if you looked at the country as a whole.
I live in MA and I work in a pet store (that does not sell puppies or kittens, mind you) and I will tell you that the amount of new puppies that come into my store with their owners that are from pet stores is probably a solid 10%, minimum. FWIW, I also get a vast quantity of people who have dogs that are rescued from puppy-mill breakups (there have been two notable puppy mill raids in the past few months in my state).
There are several pet stores peddling puppies in this state and there is one at a major mall about a half-hour from my store. In order to buy a pet store puppy, you need to have pet stores, and I bet that most US states have more pet stores selling dogs than Indiana does.
Also, considering how much of Indiana is rural — very rural — I am not surprised that dogs born in the owner’s home are more likely to end up in a shelter. I would guess that there is more backyard breeding and more specifically “oops” breeding going on there than in many other states. They think they can sell the puppies… they can’t. They think they can give away the puppies… they can’t. Oh well. Off to the shelter!
You raised some great points in this post, but I’m just having trouble with these blanket statements. I don’t feel that Indiana represents the rest of the United States all that well.
Hold on — you are using statistics taken from the state of Indiana for some of your statements. I really, really am having trouble believing some of these statements still hold true if you looked at the country as a whole.
I live in MA and I work in a pet store (that does not sell puppies or kittens, mind you) and I will tell you that the amount of new puppies that come into my store with their owners that are from pet stores is probably a solid 10%, minimum. FWIW, I also get a vast quantity of people who have dogs that are rescued from puppy-mill breakups (there have been two notable puppy mill raids in the past few months in my state).
There are several pet stores peddling puppies in this state and there is one at a major mall about a half-hour from my store. In order to buy a pet store puppy, you need to have pet stores, and I bet that most US states have more pet stores selling dogs than Indiana does.
Also, considering how much of Indiana is rural — very rural — I am not surprised that dogs born in the owner’s home are more likely to end up in a shelter. I would guess that there is more backyard breeding and more specifically “oops” breeding going on there than in many other states. They think they can sell the puppies… they can’t. They think they can give away the puppies… they can’t. Oh well. Off to the shelter!
You raised some great points in this post, but I’m just having trouble with these blanket statements. I don’t feel that Indiana represents the rest of the United States all that well.
Hold on — you are using statistics taken from the state of Indiana for some of your statements. I really, really am having trouble believing some of these statements still hold true if you looked at the country as a whole.
I live in MA and I work in a pet store (that does not sell puppies or kittens, mind you) and I will tell you that the amount of new puppies that come into my store with their owners that are from pet stores is probably a solid 10%, minimum. FWIW, I also get a vast quantity of people who have dogs that are rescued from puppy-mill breakups (there have been two notable puppy mill raids in the past few months in my state).
There are several pet stores peddling puppies in this state and there is one at a major mall about a half-hour from my store. In order to buy a pet store puppy, you need to have pet stores, and I bet that most US states have more pet stores selling dogs than Indiana does.
Also, considering how much of Indiana is rural — very rural — I am not surprised that dogs born in the owner’s home are more likely to end up in a shelter. I would guess that there is more backyard breeding and more specifically “oops” breeding going on there than in many other states. They think they can sell the puppies… they can’t. They think they can give away the puppies… they can’t. Oh well. Off to the shelter!
You raised some great points in this post, but I’m just having trouble with these blanket statements. I don’t feel that Indiana represents the rest of the United States all that well.
Hold on — you are using statistics taken from the state of Indiana for some of your statements. I really, really am having trouble believing some of these statements still hold true if you looked at the country as a whole.
I live in MA and I work in a pet store (that does not sell puppies or kittens, mind you) and I will tell you that the amount of new puppies that come into my store with their owners that are from pet stores is probably a solid 10%, minimum. FWIW, I also get a vast quantity of people who have dogs that are rescued from puppy-mill breakups (there have been two notable puppy mill raids in the past few months in my state).
There are several pet stores peddling puppies in this state and there is one at a major mall about a half-hour from my store. In order to buy a pet store puppy, you need to have pet stores, and I bet that most US states have more pet stores selling dogs than Indiana does.
Also, considering how much of Indiana is rural — very rural — I am not surprised that dogs born in the owner’s home are more likely to end up in a shelter. I would guess that there is more backyard breeding and more specifically “oops” breeding going on there than in many other states. They think they can sell the puppies… they can’t. They think they can give away the puppies… they can’t. Oh well. Off to the shelter!
You raised some great points in this post, but I’m just having trouble with these blanket statements. I don’t feel that Indiana represents the rest of the United States all that well.
The HSUS published the assessment and they, if anyone, have fostered the myth of “gift” animals. If it’s good enough for them to do an about face on, it’s good enough for me.
If you have ANY data to the contrary, and I mean data, not speculation, I’m perfectly willing to read it.
The data comes from this chapter of the linked HSUS publication:
http://www.hsus.org/web-files/PDF/hsp/soa_ii_chap02.pdf
And the HSUS suggests that the Indiana study is the first, and thus only, credible data on the issue. And the myth certainly predates the study. That means that the myth wasn’t based on any data, just arm chair philosophy.
“The first good study of this issue—a case-control study in a community in Indiana—compared two groups of pet care-givers: those who had surrendered a pet to an animal shelter and those representing a random sample of pet care-givers in the community who had not surrendered an animal.”
Also, what would you call the puppy mill break up dogs? Would they count as rescues or would they count as pet store dogs?
It doesn’t sound like they were sold in a store for money, and it sounds like they would be rescued through a shelter like owner relinquished dogs…so are they more likely to be returned to the shelter or less likely?
My guess is that since the reasons for relinquishment have little to do with the actual dogs and a lot more to do with the people, that puppy mill rescue dogs would be returned to the shelter just like other shelter dogs.
In other words “savior complex” isn’t nearly as impressive as “gift guilt” when it comes to keeping your dogs.
Oh, and I don’t have the entire study in front of me, but the location of the author suggests that West Lafayette, IN is the best contender for community. That’s where Purdue University is. Not exactly hickville, if you ask me.
http://lib.bioinfo.pl/pmid:8755976
Thank you for the excellent information and presentation in this article. Have you seen the new “Fancy Feast” commercials, where the guy buys his girlfriend a cat as a gift? And she is thrilled. And the cat is cherished. A scene that is played out in many households. Yeppers, even at Christmas.
I believe Nathan Winograd has a blog post about how many nice dogs and cats will die in shelters during the holiday season, all because of the stupid idea that new pets should not be introduced into the home at that time. Isn’t that the saddest thought of all?
“Pet Connection” is a hopeless case. The lights are on, but nobody’s home…….
http://time4dogs.blogspot.com/2010/04/barking-moonbats.html
I don’t wonder if part of the negative stigma these people have against people ‘gifting’ animals is that it’s another AR-hated example of people treating animals like ownable creatures instead of as equal beings to humans (hence why ‘adoption’ is better than buying, too).
I am in the market for a girlfriend, can I buy you dinner?
Or is that considered as prostitution these days and the only proper thing to do these day is to stroll along the beach?
Characteristics of Shelter-Relinquished Animals and Their Owners Compared With Animals and Their Owners in U.S. Pet-Owning Households (http://petpopulation.org/characteristicsofshelter.pdf)
This covers 12 shelters in four regions. With gifted dogs as the reference, pet shop dogs have 2.1 times risk(odds ratio), stray 2.3, friend 2.8, shelters 3.1, dogs from breeder 0.8.
You talk about “more likely” and “less likely” but don’t mention what you are comparing to. More or less likely than the reference population is not the same as more or less likely than average.
Thanks for that link, I’ll be sure to include that analysis in my future posts, but my statements are based on the chart I’ve included in this post. It is originally from this study:
Patronek, G.J., Glickman, L.T., Beck, A.M., McCabe, G.P., & Ecker, C. (1996a). Risk Factors for relinquishment of dogs to an animal shelter. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 209.
I love your blog and pretty much always agree with everything you say, but I’m a bit concerned with the stats here. I understand that it seems to be the only study out there on the subject (which is somewhat problematic in and of itself) but the other concern I have is that the data seems to be compiled between 1996-2003. If I’m wrong correct me but that’s what I saw.
If that’s the case, I don’t think it’s accounting for the fact that a new generation has been lulled into buying pet store pets and designer breeds. I’m 27 and appalled at how many memes, ads and celebrities have conned people my age into thinking they need to get a “teacup” this or a “pomsky” or some other stupid “hybrid” dog for $3000. They have no idea what a puppy mill is or why they shouldn’t go to an upscale pet store in Westchester County or Long Island and drop a card on a fluffy little dog.
I am all about the numbers and the stats and the truth, so if you can in laymen’s terms explain what exactly the subject pool was in this study and how they garnered this info, I would very much appreciate it. From a logical point of view, it does seem kind of strange that a frazzled mom of 3 with a “surprise!” puppy on Christmas morning wouldn’t be a recipe for disaster (no matter where it’s from) but… I guess I could be wrong.
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