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    WKC Can Muzzle Shelter Dog Ads but Kills Won't Stop

    By Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben | Yahoo! Contributor Network – Wed, Feb 15, 2012
    This story comes from the Yahoo! Contributor Network, where individuals publish their unique perspectives on some of the world’s most popular websites.
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    COMMENTARY | The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show has a winner: Malachy the Pekingese, who resembles a pocket Wookie, was crowned Best of Show, says Time magazine. As pundits searched for aphorisms for the puffy Peke, there's another bone of contention.

    The WKC has severed ties with Pedigree dog food company, the show's longtime sponsor. Why? Because during the purebred-only dog show, Pedigree's ads touted adoption of shelter dogs and that depressed some people. The WKC claims the ads weren't in keeping with the purebred focus, says the New York Daily News.

    The WKC says the Pedigree commercials, showing dogs looking for adoption, made viewers want to turn the channel. I'd say bury their heads is more like it. According to Humane Society of the United States stats, 6 million to 8 million dogs and cats enter shelters every year. Half don't come out alive. Sorry that makes you uncomfortable, WKC, but muzzling the ads isn't going to stop the killings.

    Not in keeping with the purebred theme, you say? What about the fact 25 percent of shelter animals are purebred dogs? Buying a dog, even paying large sums of money for the animal, is no guarantee pet owners can or will take care of their animals.

    The WKC is all about pets, yet sadly, pet owners are allowing their animals to be euthanized by droves in shelters each year. Viewers of the WKC Dog Show need to see that along with the lovely purebreds, adoption in an option. Purebred and shelter pets aren't mutually exclusive.

    Actually, "euthanize" is an inaccurate euphemism. According to Merriam-Webster, "Euthanasia" is Greek for "good death" or "mercy killing." I fail to see how sucking in poison gas in a sealed chamber, the method the American Humane Association says many shelters use, can be called merciful. At least at the vet, animals who are ill are put to sleep with a nonpainful lethal injection. The most humane option is adoption, and that's what the Pedigree commercials were about.

    Sure, the Pedigree shelter commercials are depressing. But maybe the WKC and all of us need to be disturbed. Maybe it's the wake-up call for us to be more responsible pet owners.

     

    3 comments

    • Elizabeth
      Elizabeth  •  Randolph, New Jersey  •  3 mths ago
      The WKC dog show is a joke. I'm disgusted that they cut ties with Pedigree for promoting Pet adoption because it made people sad and wasn't in line with the purebred focus of the show???? Give me a break---It's reality. Millions of dogs and cats are killed in shelters every year. When will we wake up??? Adoption should be the only option. Pet owners need to spay and neuter thier pets.......Mixed breeds are healthier overall than purebreds.
    • Holly
      Holly  •  3 mths ago
      I'm an avide dog/cat lover, but I can't handle those commercials. I'm not going to be able to adopt every animal from every shelter. SO STOP TRYING TO GUILT ME INTO IT! I've awlays gotten my pets from shelters or taken instrays, but being a responsible pet owner also means I know that I can't afford to have more than 3 pets at a time. So stop making me feel bad that owning 3 shelter pets (1 dog, 2 cats) and volunteering at the local shelter isn't enough!
    • Lee
      Lee  •  Jacksonville, Florida  •  3 mths ago
      I am so sick of being bombarded by SPCA and other "dog" ads, not only on TV, but all over the internet. If the SPCA and other animal rescue organizations spent less on advertising, they wouldn't be hurting for money. Furthermore, shelter dogs are responsible for at least 50% of the dog attack fatalities in the US and the last thing these organizations should be doing is encouraging people to bring a strange dog into their home. An animal rescue organization in Indiana is being sued for allowing the adoption of a pit bull that attacked a child a few days after it was adopted and a humane society in Florida had to pay in excess of $400,000 for allowing a dog to be adopted that killed a child a few days later. In the Florida case, the dog was described as a "sweet, loving companion, great with children" and was even featured as "pet of the week" on a local TV station.
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