@JimRoss, et alii, re: critters as sex toys.

"Pet Shop Boys are so named after the fetish of using animals for sexual purposes."

No, they are not. It's an urban legend. See:

http://www.snopes.com/risque/homosex/gerbil.asp

I've been waiting for someone else to point this out ... and I'm VERY surprised that nobody has up to this point. I was under the (mis)impression that the readers here had a better education than most of the rest of the rubes on the planet. I guess I was wrong.

No, I'm not a PetShopBoys fan. When it comes to music, I require talent, not hype.

@AC 11:50

"As for "most" breeders being profit-hungry ... I wonder which breeders are not? Interesting career move, breeding animals at a loss."

The ethical breeders are the ones looking to maintain their breed's standard. They pay close attention to genetics, and breed away from issues. They are not in it for profit, because there isn't a profit in ethical breeding. These are hunters, pullers, herders, guards, etc. ... dogs that have a job to do, and are bread to do it well. Even if they wind up as pets. Even the dogs that are bread as pets (companion dogs/toys, and non-working breeds). These dogs are conformationaly correct, and have as few as possible genetic deficiencies that lead to long-term problems for the eventual owners.

The unethical breeders are the ones looking to make a quick buck. They don't give a rat's ass about breed standards, nor genetics. All they care about is quantity, because they know all puppies look cute and are wholesalable. They are purely in it for profit. These are the puppy-mills & clueless backyard breeders. They don't care about hip issues, eye problems, heart issues, lung issues, cancer probability, back problems, or any of the other myriad potential genetic issues that dogs can pass on to their offspring. All they care about is litter size and litters per year.

These are the people who have pretty much totally trashed German Shepards (Alsatians), Standard Poodles, retrievers, pointers, setters, Collies, Dalmations, Great Danes, Mastiffs, Dobermans, Rottweilers, and almost every toy and terrior breed that exists here in the USofA.

These are the same shysters hawking "designer dogs" like the labradoodle and goldendoodle (Want a hypoallergenic water-dog duck retriever family pet? Get a Standard Poodle & teach it to hunt! That's what Standard Poodles were bread for, FFS! I've got a deep-freeze full of duck that were taken over a Standard Poodle ... and no doubt he's curled up, sound asleep with his boy as I type. Buck's a family pet first, but in the field he's all hunter).

I won't go into the various portmanteau-named toy-dog crosses. These were all (and I mean ALL) invented to sound cute in their naming, thus making it easy to separate little old ladies from their retirement income.

Dogs & humans have co-existed for a very long time. If you need a dog for a specific reason, and want a specific body/coat/color/size/temperment combination, I'll bet you a lot of money that there is already a breed out there that will fit the bill (assuming you don't want something totally daft like a hairless lapdog for hunting polar bears).

Here in the states, I seriously recommend only purchasing from a breeder with an AKC registered line of dogs ... and then, do your homework & try to see the puppy's surviving ancestors before writing the check.

If you have to go with a backyard breeder, ONLY purchase from people who are willing to let you meet the parents of the pup and several other generations of their dogs, and talk to people who have that breeder's dogs in advanced years. Otherwise it's a crap-shoot.

I'll never recommend purchasing from a so-called pet store.

However, you are your own agent. Purchase from backyard breeders and/or pet stores if you like, but don't come crying to me when the critter comes down with genetic diseases and/or congenital defects.

"But AKC dogs are so expensive", you whine ... Personally, I'd rather purchase an AKC Whippet from a known good line for $2,000 and feel secure that the critter will not have expensive and painful health issues down the road (my guy's mom & dad were happy & healthy for 18 and 19 years, although I didn't actually pay for him. Long story.) ... Or, you can pay $250 to a backyard breeder for a Labrador who comes down with hip displaysia at age 2, and then two kinds of cancer a couple years later, leading to a total of over $12,000 in Vet bills ... and then having to explain to your kids why the 6 year-old dog needs to be put down (my idiot neighbor).

But whatever. People are stupid. Believe what you like.

Yes, it's a pet peeve. And I'm probably tilting at windmills again.