All new puppies are cute, but did Bo need a home as desperately as a rescue dog does? Photo: L.A. Times
For many animal lovers, one of the highlights of Barack Obama's 2008 win was the press conference, shortly after the election, at which he said that for his family's promised new dog, "our preference would be to get a shelter dog..." For the rescue community, it was the first time we'd ever heard a politician, much less the President-elect, even utter the phrase "shelter dog."
Since this declaration followed Michelle Obama's confirmation to Entertainment Tonight in October that the family would indeed “adopt a rescue dog” we felt confident that despite the Obamas' well-publicized need to accommodate their daughter's allergies, they would genuinely try to find their new family dog at one of the nation's hundreds of public or private shelters and rescues.
Even after the disappointment of Joe Biden's buying a dog from a breeder, the rescue community still believed Barack and Michelle Obama would choose to save a life, rather than support an industry that continually breeds thousands of high-priced puppies every year in a nation where every day purebred and mixed-breed dogs are killed in municipal shelters. We thought the Obamas agreed that this was wrong. We hoped the White House could become a symbol of genuine concern for animals, rather than the view that for the rich and powerful everything's value is determined by its price.
Even as it devotedly covered the story, the press treated the "first dog" issue as a cutesy human interest sideshow, rather than an important sign of hope that things could change -- that shelter dogs might have the potential to stop being the underdogs. Anyone who doubts the power of publicity to shape the nation's pet preferences should think back to the proliferation of Chocolate Labs after the Clintons' acquisition of Buddy; and the explosion in deadly short-lived popularity for Dalmatian puppies that followed the famous Disney movie, followed less than a year later by a massive influx to the nation's shelters of Dalmatian pups turned high-maintenance purebred adults. For the past several years you could go to any L.A. shelter and see the variety of dumped Chihuahuas; testament to the vapidity of scores of Paris- and Britney-wannabes who, like their shallow idols, believed dogs could or should be fashion accessories, only to abandon them when they turned out to be living creatures with needs.
Yet despite all their stated good intentions, in the end the Obamas decided to allow their choice of dog to be guided, which is to say commandeered, by the Kennedys, and the Kennedy family's breed preference for the rarefied Portuguese Water Dog. Moreover, instead of even trying to find a Portie through a breed rescue, they chose to patronize the Kennedys' own breeder (I know the official version of the story is that the new puppy is a "gift" from Ted Kennedy, but does anyone believe that gift wasn't green-lighted by the Obamas?).
The additional convenient narrative that has emerged that the puppy, now named Bo, was returned to the breeder (seemingly positioning the purchase of the dog as a "rescue") only serves to underline how little both the Obamas and the Kennedys understand about rescue dogs. Rescue means saving a dog, giving a dog a home for life, often literally rescuing it from being killed at a shelter. It isn't a fiction spun around a purchase from a dog breeder.
Breeders are the antithesis of rescues and shelters. Whether they mean well or ill for their dogs, breeders deliberately bring new puppies into a world where dogs are being put to death every day for lack of space.
As I type this, a commercial has just come on the television, featuring the voice of President Obama exhorting the nation to volunteerism. I wonder if he has any idea how many volunteers in the sheltering, rescue and humane community feel slapped in the face by his choice to buy (or allow Kennedys to buy) while the shelter dogs we volunteer to help, to try to save, are dying by the thousands.
Note: At the time of this article's publication, there is a male Portuguese Water Dog available for adoption at L.A. Animal Services' West L.A. Shelter.
Comments
I agree. This is thoroughly dissapointing. The love of our life is our rescued JRT, Holly and our 2 rescued cats ( I do have one JRT from a breeder who I also love dearly). There is no reason why a couple with the Obama's resources could not find the exact dog they wanted from a pound or rescue operation. Jeez, just type in PWD rescue into google and you are practically set.
When the Obamas began talking about getting a dog they were naive dog seekers. We should be lauding them for doing their homework - exploring breeds and options, finding the animal that fit their family requirements,and then waiting to bring their new family member home until their household was a little settled after the move. Sometimes a "right" dog is from a shelter or a rescue group and sometimes from a breeder. And, if everyone was as thoughtful about acquiring a pet as the Obamas have been there ultimately would be fewer animals rejected, neglected, and euthanized. Lets use their thoughtfulness and prepatory work to educate and set an example rather than attacking them for failing to explore only a shelter/resuce option.
The Obamas did not "agree this was wrong" as you say. They said they had a preference for a shelter dog. If that is the worst thing they do in 4 years I think we'll all take it.
I applaud the Obama's for doing the research they did before bringing a dog into their family. If you research a breed or an adopted animal from a humane society or a rescue group, no matter how you access a dog, the dog still requires a tremenodous amount of love and time. Responsible breeders breed healthy dogs and keep health in bloodlines; responsible Humane Socities, keep healthy dogs a live no matter how long it takes to adopt them. I am just happy another dog has found a home and love for a lifetime.
If you google PWD rescue you get nothing. I did so just to test and there were no dogs available. PWD breeders have been very careful about stewardship of the breed.
We are seeing a demographic shift in dog population. As most owners responded to pet overpopulation and voluntarily sterilized pets numbers have dropped. The puppy birthrate for all dogs except pit bulls and pit crosses and Rottie crosses is less than the replacement rate. Some estimates say these dogs make up close to half the breeding population. Leave responsible breeders alone, get low cost S/N to the poor who cannot alter the inner city dog of choice--the pit bull. Not everyone can take on a shelter dog and currently most shelter dogs are adult pit crosses.
As a respondant said, people should get the best dog for them. If that is a shelter dog fine, but this hysteria about the only source of dogs should be shelters and the pressure to harass or tax all breeders out of existence is way off base. If the trend continues and the largest concentration of breeding dogs continues to be the pit mixes of the urban poor, we we see a continued shift in dog demographics to large aggressive dogs and fewer others will be available to the public.
For those of you who cannot understand the importance of this issue, I urge you to spend a few days volunteering at a shelter. Maybe it's more important to those of us who have seen healthy dogs and cats euthanized because there was literally no room for them. Once again, I want to cry for all the loving dogs sitting in cages tonight.
Good piece, Kate. Many valid points and well-expressed.
Maggie, I just Googled "Portuguese Water Dog Rescue" and the third result I got was for the Portuguese Water Dog Club of America's Rescue page. I would call that a result.
Since you don't cite a source for your contention that all shelter dog numbers are going down except for Pit Bulls, Pit mixes, and Rottweilers/Rottweiler mixes, I'm going to respectfully disagree, particularly with your statement that "currently most shelter dogs are adult pit crosses."
Los Angeles is a pretty solid urban center and the shelter where I volunteer recently got in a pregnant purebred Labrador who gave birth to nine Lab/apparently Shepherd mixes. The same shelter also just got a call today from someone looking to dump eleven Shepherd puppies.
There are also a couple of issues in your comment that I take exception to. Pit Bulls are not “poor people” dogs, nor are Rottweilers. Nor is either breed inherently more aggressive than other breeds as a whole. Yes, Rottweilers especially are generally large, powerful dogs, but Pits come in a variety of sizes (especially if the umbrella term is also used to describe Staffordshires). Both breeds cover the full spectrum of temperament from love bug to tough guy – but so do Poodles and Chihuahuas.
Interestingly, Mastiffs and St. Bernards are much bigger than Rotties and Pit Bulls, and Chows are often perceived on an individual basis to be inherently aggressive, yet one rarely sees derogatory stereotypes applied to these breeds. Is this because they aren’t perceived as breeds popular with non-white people?
I don’t know if the overtones of classism (at best) or racism (at worst) were intentional, but they were perceptible. Dog lovers don’t have a race, nor do dogs.
Additionally, I vehemently disagree that a shelter dog is something to be “taken on” any more than ANY dog one takes into one’s family. I have three dogs adopted from city shelters; and I know over a hundred shelter dogs pretty well and they are dogs. They are individuals. They are no greater burden than a breeder’s dog.
I don’t know if your intent was to not-very-subtly make people feel that there is something wrong with shelter dogs, that they are “damaged goods” or inherently more problematic than breeder’s dogs, but they are not.
It is THEIR PERSONAL CHOICE. At least they brought it to the forefront. But if you live your life wanting people to PLEASE YOU then you are in a world of HURT. Grow up and move on PLEASE!
Rescued animals are so thankful and make the best members for a family. We have rescued 7 dogs, 3 goats and one sheep. As we lose them through the years we look back at all they meant to us. They all bring us joy, laughter and love. Some are mixed breeds, some pure breds but all needed a home because of medical needs. Diabetes, cancer or deafness from birth along with hip and elbow dysplasia. All breeds of dogs and they all get along with each other.
No one to take the farm animals from their former owner. We made a promise to her to bury them on our acreage and not in a landfill. This was their home along with all the other animals. None of them go to their final rest but at their home. God has blessed us all with the love of animals-we need to return that love by giving safe, loving homes to His creations.Is this the Obama family's first pet ever? Have either of the adult Obama's ever had a pet?
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