President Obama and Family: Didn't you get the fuckin' Memo: You should be adopting four million

[Mike 03]

homeless dogs and cats, not just one.

There are four million dogs and cats without homes. What is the matter with you? How can you only adopt one dog? Holy smoke, how insensitive you must be...

While you are at it, why don't you lift the world on your shoulder and bless it in the gleaming light of eternal good luck?



:sarcasm:

[robinlynne]

1. They didn't adopt any. It was purchased, a purebred.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. It was given to them by their good friend Ted Kennedy

after having been returned to the breeder by the first owner.

Frankly, I don't see why their children's pet is anybody else's business. Although it does divert some DU poutrage away from the mistreatment of innocent Somali pirates by the Navy.

[PopSixSquish]

14. Ok, I Laughed

Clearly, I'm going to hell...

[ladym55]

5. Actually, it was a gift from Senator Kennedy

Here's a link to one of the stories on the puppy published today:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7995570.stm

[robinlynne]

45. who purchased it from a breeder. not an adopted rescue.

[Kahuna]

15. And that is their business. They don't need to get anyone's approval

on how to obtain a pet for their kids. PERIOD.

[pnwmom]

23. It was a purebred that the original owners couldn't keep,

for whatever reason.

So they gave it back to the breeder -- because most good breeders have a contract clause that requires that any dog that can't be kept has to go back to them, instead of a shelter. Then the breeder will "re-home" the dog.

Shelters do have some purebreds. But breeders with that contract clause help to reduce the number of dogs who end up in shelters.

[saltpoint]

2. I like dogs. I like Democrats.

Thank you.

[Skittles]

4. this is really juvenile

[Bluebear]

31. So . .

are most of his contributions.

[saltpoint]

6. The point of their getting a dog is IMO to bring some happiness to

the kids.

Ted Kennedy gave them the dog.

I like Ted Kennedy. I like dogs. I like Democrats.

Thank you.

[Kahuna]

20. WRONGO!!! Apparently the point of getting the dog was to bring happiness

to millions of Americans who presume to have a say so in the matter. :crazy:


:sarcasm:

[saltpoint]

22. I guess that's true, My god I am SO provincial.

[LisaL]

30. Yes. It's not like all these people would be voting or anything.

:eyes:

[Kahuna]

40. So what! Your vote doesn't give you the right to rule his personal life.

:wtf:

[AndrewP]

7. The fucking point is to not bring it up if your not going to do it.

Not sure how fucking difficult that is to fucking understand about this fucking issue.

[The Straight Story]

9. I think it might be called changing one's mind for personal reasons

Something my X did on a daily basis I might add :) "I will paint the kitchen color X" and then it ended up Y.

He is our president, not our priest.

[Kahuna]

17. Some people need to act like grown ups and not have a hissy about

something that was never any concern of theirs in the first place.

[pnwmom]

24. The dog he got COULD have ended up in a shelter, because the original

owners couldn't keep him. However, the breeder had a contract clause requiring that the dog never be put in a shelter, but instead be given back to the breeder if necessary.

This kind of contract clause keeps the number of shelter dogs down. It's a good thing to take a dog in that needs a new home, whether it comes from a shelter or a kennel, like this one did.

Besides, Obama never promised to get a dog from a shelter -- he said he hoped to find one there, but he also needed a dog that would be good for allergies. Getting a dog that needed re-homing was a reasonable alternative.

He also made a donation to a Washington DC humane society.

[LisaL]

27. This dog was never in danger of ending up in a shelter.

He is a rare purebred puppy, and the owners would return the dog to the breeder if they couldn't keep it. Which is just what they did. To pretend that somehow the dog was gonna end up on the street if not for Obama is ridiculous.

[pnwmom]

33. Not all breeders require that dogs be returned, and some people might prefer

to drop off a dog they couldn't handle at the nearest shelter, rather than to have to make arrangements to ship them on a plane back to a breeder.

To anyone who was familiar with these breeds, it was clear that the odds were vanishingly small that the Obama's would find a healthy low-allergy puppy at a shelter. Almost all of those animals either go back to breeding kennels or get taken in by pure bred rescue organizations.

[LisaL]

34. Well, Obama's dog breeder required that the dogs be returned

to her. By the way I never believed Obama was going to find a Portuguese water dog, a young puppy, in a shelter. If he truly wanted a shelter dog, he should have picked a less rare breed. One of the choices was a poodle mix, which he could have gotten from a shelter.

[Critters2]

35. Yep. The minute he said it would be a PWD, I knew they weren't

considering a shelter dog. I figured they had a breeder in mind, too. Apparently, I was right.

[pnwmom]

41. Poodle mix dogs also get scooped up by poodle and poodle-mix rescues.

Few poodle-mix puppies end up at the pound; those that do, usually end up being transferred to rescues.

It's been clear from the very beginning that the only thing the Obamas "truly wanted" was the best dog for their daughters. In theory, they hoped to get a medium size hypo-allergenic puppy from a shelter, but they didn't know how difficult that would be -- neither of the Obamas had ever even owned a dog before. So they listened to a close friend's advice and chose a healthy puppy, with genetic testing, from a trusted breeder. That breeder has a "no shelter" contract, so at least that breeder won't be contributing to the shelter overload.

And the Obamas made a donation to the local pound. I'm sure most pounds would love it if every person who bought a dog at a breeder also sent a donation their way.

[BlooInBloo]

8. You know, the funniest is: the ihateoabam people, from Clinton primary season onward....

whined about how Obama supporters "worshipped" him like he was god.

Naturally, that was complete bullshit, like pretty much everything ihateobama people say.

But now that he's here, they're acting disappointed that not every single thing is going perfectly. That is, they're disappointed that he isn't god.

Fucking worthless whiner hypocrites.

[LWolf]

43. Whom, exactly, are you referring to?

I don't approve of Obama's nomination, election, or agenda. I never have, and I was never a Clinton supporter, either. A point so many can't seem to "get."

Yet I do approve of the new Obama dog, and hope he brings as much love to the Obama family as my dog brings to me.

I have no problem with acquiring a dog from a responsible breeder. If we are ever able to "fix" the pet overpopulation problem, responsible breeders will be the only breeders left. What, exactly, are we working towards?

To continue the flood of "accidentally let it happen" breedings, feral breedings, and puppy mill animals, so that there are always millions of excess animals who can't find good homes?

Or to end those breeding events and rely on responsible breeders to perpetuate the pets?

Meanwhile, I suggest the following measures as a good start:

1. Require a license to breed, along with harsh fines and sanctions for irresponsible breeding practices. How harsh? Harsh enough to discourage violators.

2. Require all breeders, shelters, pet stores, rescue operations, and pet owners to microchip their pets, entered into a national database.

3. Require all pets not owned by licensed breeders to be spayed/neutered.

4. Make sure that all animals picked up by any shelter, rescue, or similar organization are microchipped, spayed, and neutered before rehoming.

5. Require training classes for pet owners, that not only teach animal "obedience," but sound, humane care of pets.

Encourage responsible pet ownership, and discourage dumping, through a massive public awareness campaign.

[saltpoint]

10. Ok, I like cats too. I like dogs better but I do like cats.

I'm kind of neutral on goldfish. I got nothing against 'em, though. If you happen to have goldfish or other fish of one or another kind, that's entirely fine with me.

Hampsters? Gerbils? Rabbits? Truth be told, I haven't developed a strong opinion of them one way or the other. Again, I certainly can't object to someone's having any or all these creatures as pets. I've known people who had on or more or several of these kinds of animals.

And they all did pretty well over an extended period, with a few tragic exceptions.

Did anybody ever read John Steinbeck's THE RED PONY? What a good story that is.

[uppityperson]

28. I like gerbils. They are friendly and low smelling for rodents

they love to dig and chew and you can hold them in your hand. They are very cute and sweet.

[saltpoint]

39. Although I've never owned one I know folks who do and they agree with

what you said.

[saltpoint]

11. Now you know what's interesting is that in olden times there were dragons

and they like, you know, hung around with people. And people could ride them and take care of them.

This is documented in story books, by the way.

[PopSixSquish]

16. 2nd Time on This Thread I've Laughed

I'm deranged and need to be sent to one of those "holier than thou" re-education camps...

[saltpoint]

19. LOL! They may have to send us both in the same wagon.

I'm pretty much at the point where I'll require massive p.r.n. medication and 4-point restraints.

[PopSixSquish]

21. I Knew There was a Reason I Read Your Posts

Like always knows like...

[uppityperson]

29. Riding dragons is well documented

"I'm a nasty nasty dragon" was my 3rd grader's favorite poem also

[saltpoint]

38. Well there you have it! the evidence is clear, the tradition is strong,

and dragons it is!


:thumbsup:

[aquart]

12. An inane exaggeration of the kind made by idiots.

Who want to discourage people from ever doing a good or decent thing because there is always so much more to be done.

People of intelligence tend not to be taken in by idiotic exaggerations...but it does tire us.

[Missy Vixen]

13. God forbid anyone in this country ever wants a purebred

Our boys were neutered before we even brought them home. We signed a contract, one which states that our cats are surrendered to the breeder if we ever find ourselves unable to take care of them. We've had many shelter cats over the years, and after we lost our beautiful Merlin to fibrosarcoma, we'll never have another shelter pet again that we can't verify how many vaccinations, etcetera...

In the meantime, here's the most ironic part of all of this to me.

Some of the same people who are bitching and moaning about how terrible those who breed animals are don't give two shits about the fact that there are 250,000 kids in foster care in this country who are ALSO looking for a home. The anti-shelter people insist on breeding their own kids, don't they?

Isn't it the same thing?

[LisaL]

26. You've lost me. WTF do children in foster care have to do

with Obama getting a dog from a breeder? By the way Obama didn't adopt any kids either. What point are you even trying to make?

[Missy Vixen]

36. Here, let me help you

It's verboten to ever consider getting a pet from a breeder here, isn't it? At the same time, some of those who are the most vociferous anti-breeders have no problem with having a baby, as opposed to adopting one of the 250,000 children currently in the foster care system in the USA. In other words, animals bring howls of protest; humans? Meh. They should have chosen better, huh?

I think it's comical. I also think that one has quite a lot to do with the other.

[LisaL]

37. Are you proposing "spay and neuter" campaign for humans?

I fail to see what one has to do with the other.

[Missy Vixen]

44. It certainly wouldn't be a bad idea

Considering the fact that there are so many kids in the foster care system who have no hope of an adoption, perhaps it would be a good thing to even attempt to find those kids homes first.

And yes, they have everything to do with each other. In other words, perhaps the anti-breeder folk need to mind their own business, unless they can back up their rhetoric in their personal choices.

[Control-Z]

49. While LisaL insists on

being obtuse, I agree with your point and had the same thoughts myself. I almost said as much yesterday, but before posting my message I realized there would be a whole slew of LisaL's who would claim to not get it.

I understand the passion that people have for whatever cause they hold near and dear. But dictating what others do is complete BS and freeper like. I was in foster care as a child/teen and believe children should be a priority. I would still never insist that an infertile couple adopt rather than use fertility treatments.

[Individualist]

18. Aren't you just too cute

:eyes:

[cherish44]

25. Pet ownership enslaves animals

AMENSETY!!! Free them from their tyrannical overlords!!!

[Bluebear]

32. How long does it take you to think up this shit?

[butterfly77]

42. Some people didn't get the memo..

that it is none of their damn business what type of dog they choose or where they got it from...Did these same people tell Bush or any other president what type of dog to choose. People think that they have the right to ask some asinine questions of this pres and set up different standards that we have never heard of before..

[nadinbrzezinski]

46. Universal blessing... didn't know Obama was also the Pope

piece of trivia... the pope does issue a blessing for the world on Holy Sunday

things that US Papers will never, ever cover... but am reminded of it every time I visit home

[tuckessee]

47. Are you trying to be witty?

You failed miserably.

[bluestateguy]

48. They saved a dog that would have otherwise ended up in a shelter

So, please all you special interest group people, cool it!

And in any event a hypoallergenic Portugeese Water Puppydog is not exactly easy to find in a shelter.