A Message From The President

Dear Friends and Supporters,

The beginning of a new calendar year brings to mind new possibilities, goals, achievements, and for most of us resolutions to “do better” in the year ahead. 2008 also commemorates an important landmark for MCHS as we celebrate 50 years of compassion for the animals.

Throughout these 50 years, we have seen significant improvement in animal welfare, humane education and enforcement. Laws supporting responsible pet ownership, laws against dog fighting and tethering, criminal punishment for those who abuse animals, and tighter restrictions on animals that pose a threat to public health and safety, are just a few of the changes we have led.  

We will remain devoted to targeting the problems affecting animal welfare and public safety. Despite tireless dedication and uncounted dollars, animals still suffer and present health and safety risks to citizens and their domestic pets. At the root of the homelessness, hunger, neglect, abandonment, and more is overpopulation.

One of the more newsworthy events of 2007 was our involvement in rescuing some of the puppies seized following an undercover investigation by the Humane Society of the United States. Montgomery County Humane Society played an important role in rescuing these dogs from a large-scale puppy mill, located in nearby Hillsville, Virginia.

The existence of puppy mills where dogs are forced to live in unspeakable conditions only underscores the importance of responsible breeding and pet ownership through humane education and enforcement. Sadly, the puppy mill in Hillsville is only one of thousands in this country and we must take steps to close these types of operations down for good.

Hillsville, Virginia Puppy Mill

As long as an uninformed public creates demand in the marketplace, these puppy mills will continue to flourish.

Did you know it has been estimated that responsible breeders constitute as little as 2-3 percent of all persons allowing or causing animal reproduction? The other 97-98% of "breeders", the irresponsible ones, have substantially contributed to the present circumstances and continue to perpetuate the heartbreak of pet overpopulation. They are potentially responsible for creating not just 97-98% of unwanted animals, but possibly even more. They wantonly produce, without a plan, without control, without attention to the lives, reproduction, or fate of animals they've caused to be born.

Responsible breeders place healthy, vaccinated animals into homes with written requirements for continued, lifelong care. They thoroughly educate each new owner about the breed and the individual pet they are adopting. They strongly advise and frequently require written proof of training to ensure well socialized, pleasant companions. These elements promote responsible pet ownership and largely eliminate abandonment, relinquishment, and neglect.

A responsible breeder is someone who has dedicated themselves to the welfare of their breed, including nurturing sound temperament, advancement of health, longevity and well being. Of greatest consequence, responsible breeders require spaying and neutering of most of the animals they create. They place many on Limited Registration; these offspring cannot be registered as purebred, which further discourages breeding.

They require written veterinary proof of spay/neuter within a limited time period, with follow up, and will reclaim the animal if needed should the new owners fail in this duty.

Responsible breeders embrace full responsibility for the animals they produce. They forbid their animals from ever being brought to a shelter or advertised in the paper as needing a home. Animals produced by responsible breeders do NOT wind up in shelters. They are not the animals taking up shelter space. They are not the animals that have been abandoned, killed on roadways, or dying miserable deaths somewhere alone.  

The millions of animals, purebreds and mixed breeds alike, passing through the nation’s shelters each year do not come from responsible breeders. They come from irresponsible breeders. The definition of irresponsible breeders is: all persons who are not responsible breeders. Each person who causes or merely allows an animal to reproduce outside discussed guidelines is an irresponsible breeder. That means not just puppy mills, not just individuals who have a Labrador and their neighbor down the road has one. It means the family who has one litter "so the kids can experience the miracle of birth," and the uninformed people who decide to make money breeding their animal. And it includes every person who lets their unaltered animal in any way mate unintentionally.

Responsible breeders are not the enemy. They're an ally in the fight to resolve the overpopulation problem. They share our outrage.  

Talk to your neighbor, share this with your peers at work, and invite us to speak at your local school or civic group. As a community we can educate the public, so that everyone knows the difference between responsible and irresponsible breeding. The public needs to thoroughly understand that the difference is usually between joy and heartbreak, between health and soundness, between premature death and animals that live past life expectancy with health and happiness intact.

One of our goals must be to squeeze out irresponsible breeding—all 97% of it, which will significantly reduce pet over- population. We will continue to ensure alteration and placement of animals in appropriate homes and drastically reduce suffering, prevent relinquishment and abandonment, and someday, eliminate the need for shelters.

With the continued support of our outstanding veterinary community, volunteers, staff, Montgomery County Police Department and its Animal Services Division, and our Rescue Partners, we are achieving our goals daily as a community team through education and enforcement. Thank you for being a part of the solution to achieving our shared goals for the homeless animals.

Responsibly Yours,

JC Crist

President & CEO  

Montgomery County Humane Society, Inc.