Pleasanton, CA Reptile/Bird show 5/18/08

[Nor_Cal_Bird_Expo]

There are 3 vendors that sometimes have puppies for sale. I'm fairly sure they breed them. They are good people, not everyone that breeds puppies should be compared to the backyard breeders & puppy mills you always see on tv. And we promote the sale of animals and related items at the shows.

bird vs. reptile vs. dog... The majority are bred in captivity, but there are still a few imports... Same church different pew.

I wouldn't mind having more rescue groups at the show, but I can't offer free spaces to them.

I also bust my butt at every show to help out 'The Wing Foundation', a 501(c)3 non-profit avian rescue group and another woman that is fighting cancer. The woman with cancer used to own a bird store but had to close. She owns Macaws and is concerned about where they will go when she passes and wants to have a trust in place for the care of her animals. I have agreed to help her sell everything in her storage as much as I am able. So my creative idea was to offer to The Wing Foundation the responsibility of selling the toys at the shows to raise money, and they agreed.

I go back & fourth from Hayward to Clayton at least 6 times before & after a show. I pick up toys and search thru the inventory/price list sheets and price them. I set up the Wing Foundations booth. After the show I balance all their sales and then send checks out to them both.

I would do the same for any other rescue group (probably not if they were spiders) if the situation allowed.

We also told one of the vendors to leave because they were not following Calif. State Laws. And they will NEVER be allowed to sell at the Pleasanton Show again.

Hope you all enjoy the pictures, the blue dart frog is one of mine and the gecko is a friends (but I have my own now). The python, Tegu and Tortoise are from the show. I love taking pics of the animals.

[Nor_Cal_Bird_Expo]

You have seen one of my dart frogs (I have 4 and want to add 2 more) and my gecko. And even though they are not reptiles, I can't leave out my favorite boys.

Stewie is my talker, skater & motorcycle rider.

LB is my most talanted trickster.

[stalk]

With all due respect, I have been working in dog rescue for 15 years now. I am affiliated with two rescues, Animal Control, and SPCA. Part of my job with Animal Control is investigating, talking and educating people who are backyard breeders.

It's not what I've seen on TV, this has been my life.

Most dogs come from the Hunte Corporation. The reason the Hunte Corporation works so well is very simple.

Most of the vendors that work for them are called agents or brokers. The agents are given a litter or two of dogs and their job is to act like a family that just "happened" to have a litter of dogs. They act like the most wonderful people in the world, they talk so smoothly it's scary. People believe they are just a wonderful family who raised two loved dogs who just happened to have a litter.

This gets people to go "awwwww" and not think beyond that.

Do you want to know how many dogs I watch being put down every week? There's nothing "awwwww" about these accidental litters. The dogs should be spayed or neutered, or if the owner is responsible, kept contained properly when a dog is n heat. Accidents should never happen.

Dog breeding is not like bird or reptile breeding at all. Unlike the other two, we have been breeding dogs for tens of thousands of years. This is why a breeding standard now exists. Now we are overpopulated and it's absolutely critical to control the breeding going on.

Perhaps you know the families vending puppies personally. If it's an accidental litter it's one thing. But since they are selling them, it's a whole another thing. Allow me to give you a example of a good breeder.

The German Shepherd Dog I recently got came from a breeder. Have you ever heard of Schutzhund? It's a working dog trail. Where AKC is Conformation, Schutzhund is working. His mother and father both had the following titles:

BH, AD, SchH III, IPO3, T.D., TD, CD, CGC, BpDH2, BIH, DH, DPH, HGH, PSP3.

Do you know what these titles represent?

5 of them are basically good canine awards. It's an award for behavior in public and at home.

SchH III and IPO3 are the highest Schutzhund honors. Many people work for years and never get those.

PSP3 is the highest Police Dog honor.

Three of them are Service dog highest honors.

One is a herding dog high honor.

A reputable breeder gets these kinds of awards. Not only that, they are CERF and OFA tested. My GSD has CERF and OFA's 15 generations long. This is important to me because blindness and hip dysplasia is common in the breed.

My dog came with a 2 week full health guarantee. and a FIVE year full refund on money back guarantee on genetic defects. Bet you those breeders don't even have a 3 day guarantee.

Do you understand why all this is important? When there's thousands of dogs dying in shelters every day, why would you pay money for a less than extraordinary dog? Why would you pay for some dog that's bred for money with no assurances of it's genetics, temperament, or health when you can get a dog just as badly bred in a shelter for 1/10 the cost, and already speutered, vaccinated, and so on? Before you say it's because they want puppies, I assure you I can find a puppy of ANY breed within a week at any time of the year.

But it's easy to be blinded by the sweet stories they tell you.

I will be discussing with the SPCA and Humane Society to protest against your vending of puppies. Your vending of puppies has already been a subject for discussion. We shut down Petsmart and Petco from selling puppies, we shut down at least 10 other mom and pop stores selling puppies. You can save us both the hassle.

I will do whatever it takes to prevent you from selling puppies in the future at your fairs. It's nothing personal. Again, if you want to discuss this more like adults and work something out, e-mail me at RJBARKER at GMAIL dot COM. I can help you learn about these issues going on and how you can help. I have nothing against you, and I would love nothing more than to help you learn about these things. It's a common goal - to better the lives of the animals that live with us.

I don't want to have to do things the hard way. It doesn't have to be like this. So let me help you, let the SPCA help you, let the Humane Society help you. Let us work with you and filter out the BYB's from good breeders. We have been doing this for years, it's what we do.

Thanks,
Ryan

[Nor_Cal_Bird_Expo]

Hello, I checked with the vendors that had the puppies (Maltese, Dashound & King Charles Cavaliers) and all have informed me they are registered by the AKC and the puppies are papered.

Heather

[stalk]

Well my request in e-mail was whether the parents were titled. However thanks for putting effort into verifying these. It speaks volumes about you.

[Nor_Cal_Bird_Expo]

Your welcome, and I'm sorry I didn't get the right info you wanted. But on the lighter side... I couldn't help but think of a title for them... BLW (Best Lap Warmer)... think the akc may consider it?

[stalk]

Someone in the rescue I work with has a English Mastiff. He is 210LB and still thinks he is a lap dog. I sat down on the couch and she turned and her eyes went wide, and told me to get off right now!

Right when she said that her Mastiff jumped onto the couch and laid on top of me. He weights 30LB more than me...... I thought I was going to die. Turned out the couch belonged to just him, since he was not allowed on the furniture. but where were they going to get couch-sized dog beds? LOL. So couch it is.

So yeah, I think Mastiffs should be disqualified from that. :laugh:

[Nor_Cal_Bird_Expo]

Pancakes anyone??