Why Breed?
In a world full of puppy mills and animal cruelty, why did we decide to breed?
Animals are suffering in this world.
It’s true. We hate to see animals who are suffering at the hands of the very humans who are supposed to be taking care of them. We hate to see the photos, the videos, to read the books and articles, and to even think about the horrible things happening all around the world. We want to be part of the solution and not part of the problem.
So what exactly is the problem? The problem is that
the wrong people are the ones who have the animals.
Isn’t that the root of it? If only good people- people who actually care about animals and have the space, the funds, and the heart to raise and care for animals- got to be in charge of animals, then we would see no animal suffering at all! So is the solution to take animals away from everyone? No! Of course not! If no one is raising, say, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (just pulling a random animal out of the hat here), then there would be no Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. Is that the kind of world you want to live in?
Further, if the only Cavalier King Charles Spaniels in the world are the ones who come from horrible awful puppy mills- perhaps pups who have been rescued from those disgusting places, or adults who have been through hell and drained of everything the Puppy Mill Master could make money off of- if those are the only Cavalier King Charles Spaniels in the world, is that true justice? Will that keep animals from suffering? Will that solve the problem?
Obviously, we do not want to add to the problem. We do not want to create puppies that no one wants, puppies who end up in shelters and pounds, who have no home to look forward to, and no yard to play in, and no humans to call their own. We don’t want to make puppies that are just living to die. To keep these things from happening, responsible breeding comes into play. For one thing, you have to consider the breed itself.
Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are not only adorable (some would say…the most adorable dogs in the whole world), they are also small and temperamentally sound. As a breed in general, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are popular dogs. That may change one day- i mean, it would be crazy if people stopped loving Cavalier King Charles Spaniels- but if it did happen, then we would definitely reconsider adding more CKCS to the world. But the fact that the breed is so popular, means there are always people who want our puppies. We have never had a puppy that no one wanted.
But we go further than just choosing to breed a popular dog breed. We also work to make sure our whole operation is small. We’re not interested in creating hundreds of puppies a year. If you overwhelm the market with puppies, sooner or later, you’re going to run out of buyers! If we ever ran out of buyers, and we were stuck with a litter of puppies that no one wanted, do you know what we would do?
We would keep the puppies.
We have the space! Our big yard is a dog’s paradise. We have the time! Kelsey is a stay at home mother, and Kayla works part time so there is almost always an adult home. Not to mention Juliet begs us to keep at least one puppy from every litter, so she would be thrilled at the prospect of keeping an entire litter. And we have the heart. Is there any other place more comforting and safe than a pile of Cavaliers? We know our dogs. We love our dogs. And if we get to keep an entire new generation, I mean…Can you imagine the cute pictures? The snuggles? The poop to clean up? Yes! We are up for the challenge! We are ready for the work! We are in love with Cavaliers!
So back to the question at hand: Why did we decide to breed?
We decided to breed because we love Cavaliers. We don’t want puppies to only come from horrible puppy mills. We truly believe there should be places in this world where puppies are safe and loved and well cared for from day one of their lives.