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Breeders KILL! Please feel free to copy this and post it anywhere you like. The more who read, the less who breed!

Most people know to avoid puppy mills and "backyard" breeders. But many kind individuals fall prey to the picket-fence appeal of so-called "responsible" breeders and fail to recognize that no matter how kindly a breeder treats his or her animals, as long as dogs and cats are dying in animal shelters and pounds because of a lack of homes, no breeding can be considered "responsible."

There is no excuse for breeding or for supporting breeders. If you love animals and are ready to care for a cat or a dog for the rest of the animal's life, please adopt from your local animal shelter, where there are dogs and cats galore—tails wagging and hearts filled with hope, looking out through the cage bars, just waiting to find someone to love. Shelters receive new animals every day, so if you don't find the perfect companion to match your lifestyle on your first visit, keep checking back. When you find your new best friend, you'll be glad that you chose to save a life—and made a new best friend as well.


Producing animals for sale is a greedy and callous business in a world where there is a critical and chronic shortage of good homes for dogs, cats, and other animals, and the only "responsible breeders" are ones who, upon learning about their contribution to the overpopulation crisis, spay or neuter their animals, and get out of the business altogether.

Those who breed millions of dogs and cats each year for profit are contributing to the companion animal overpopulation crisis. Every newborn puppy or kitten means one home fewer for a dog or cat desperately waiting in a shelter or roaming the streets.

Producing more animals—either to make money or to obtain a certain "look" or characteristic—is also harmful to the animals who are produced by breeding. Dogs and cats don't care whether their physical appearance conforms to a judge's standards, yet they are the ones who suffer the consequences of humans' manipulation. Inbreeding causes painful and life-threatening genetic defects in "purebred" dogs and cats, including crippling hip dysplasia, blindness, deafness, heart defects, skin problems, and epilepsy. Distorting animals for specific physical features also causes severe health problems. The short, pushed-up noses of bulldogs and pugs, for example, can make exercise and even normal breathing difficult for these animals. Dachshunds' long spinal columns often cause back problems, including disk disease.

All breeders fuel the companion animal overpopulation crisis, and every time someone purchases a puppy or a kitten instead of adopting from an animal shelter, homeless animals lose their chance of finding a home—and will be euthanized. Many breeders don't require every puppy or kitten to be spayed or neutered prior to purchase, so the animals they sell can soon have litters of their own, creating even more animals to fill homes that could have gone to shelter animals—or who will end up in animal shelters or so-called "no-kill" animal warehouses themselves. Simply put, for every puppy or kitten who is deliberately produced by any breeder, a shelter animal dies.

You are so right about your concerns..while we love to see Chihuahuas everywhere, they really only belong in responsible, loving homes...where families are committed to their welfare. Chihuahuas are wonderful, amazing dogs, and they need to be with the right families and people. Though loved by many, they are not the breed for everyone!
I hope that there is a disclaimer or mention at the end of the film reinforcing that pet ownership should not be taken lightly.

I completely agree! I thought the same thing when I heard about this movie - can't wait to see it, but so afraid it will cause people to buy chihuahuas on a whim. That's what happened after the whole Taco Bell commercials. Guess I'll just have to hope it works out alright!