@yodel4me:
The senior b was just one to pop in my mind. Isn't it better for someone to try to rehome their dog on CL than to take the dog to a shelter or euthanize it? Why is it acceptable for breeders to rehome their older dogs after they are finished using them in their breeding program but it's not acceptable for someone to rehome their pet? I don't understand the reasoning.
I know of no responsible breeder trying to place a sick geriatric dog. And we'll have to disagree… I think better to hold this dog while euthanizing than place in rescue. Of course, BEST, is to be humane and keep this dog safe til it dies.
As for breeders, let me try to explain since I am not a basenji breeder and not in the fray. When you breed, hopefully you are dedicated to improving the breed. This is even more important with a breed with limited numbers. Ideally, I really think you should not have to breed a bitch more than twice to get something that is BETTER than the bitch. Ideally, after 2 or 3 litters, you have something that you move on to, retiring the dam from producing. Regardless of when, people have limited space. To me, taking a dog you are no longer using in a breeding program and finding it a great pet home where it can get the most one-on-one attention not only allows a breeder to have the space and ability to continue breeding, but it is the best possible thing for that dog. Breeders aren't breeding pets to sell puppies, they are dedicated to breeding to advance the breed. Mentally it really is a different place than just pet homes.
Both as a rescuer and a breeder, I rarely think my home is the only or best home. There have been precisely 2 exceptions... Sayblee and the Chow/coyote. Few homes would have been good for either. My back-up homes should something happen to me folks prayed for my health nightly til both were gone. Not another dog I have owned could not have thrived happily and maybe better in another home.
I know several breeders who are not able to breed every year, sometimes only every 3 yrs, due to lack of homes for their rare breed dogs because they refuse to have more dogs in their home than they can give pet-loving quality care to. I know others who simply start crating and packing in the numbers in the belief that the welfare of their dogs come second to their idea that they are producing something so wonderful with that next litter that the welfare of older dogs is 2nd. I'll leave out my views on that but am sure you can guess.
But that belief in there being a maximum number you can personally care for as loved pets as opposed to livestock, well it is a boon because it has kept me from keeping dogs I bred, that did not fit my breeding goals but wanted to keep, and dogs I fostered when I was at my limit.
So, I applaud those breeders who get those dogs into loving pet homes. It really is a good thing and it really is not related to someone dumping a pet because it is no longer convenient.
And that is not to say there aren't legit reasons to rehome! Heck, we just helped a lady who had to move, could not take the dogs, and she contacted BRAT. She didn't dump in shelter or sell to highest bidder, she did the right thing. I have a friend who placed her 2 basenji when her husband died. Her job was on the road most of the week and keeping them would have been horrible on them. She cried buckets, but she placed them… losing both her husband and beloved dogs. So if I have ever sounded like I don't think there is a time and place, there is.
OH, yeah and I placed a cat rescue once. My husband brought it home. I called it "the lump." Don't ask, suffice to say the thought of living with "the lump" for 18 yrs had me in tears. I found it a home where it would be loved, not resented.