GoCougs said:
You can't attack backyard breeders under the guise of, "you're just doing it for a profit", and turn around a do the same thing and justify it by saying that you health test and show. It my eyes, it's not all that different. If you are redirecting some of your profit to health testing and showing, and then charging more, your profit margin is potentially the same.
The goal of any breeder should be the "betterment of the breed." Without prejudice, and without regard for the money that can be made.
One very important difference there though is that the new puppy owner isn't being landed with a potentially sickly pup (insofar as health testing can lessen those risks) that only looks and behaves slightly as a boxer should. That's not a minor difference.
I have to say, I have no particular problem with someone making a profit from breeding dogs. Not with that specific point,
in singularity. Problem is, it's hard to take that point in singularity
Notwithstanding that (and I can name several reasons why I wouldn't buy a puppy from someone breeding on a scale large enough to make a consistent profit, irrespective that they might show and health test), I just don't see the money aspect as being particularly important. After all, one could equally say that the money recovered by someone who doesn't make an actual profit helps to subsidise their hobby in breeding/showing dogs... They're not breeding for the purpose of supplying the world with puppies - rather, to breed better boxers and pursue their interest in doing so. But from the perspective of puppy buyers, what's really the difference? The breeder made a profit, or if not a profit, had their hobby subsidised. In that aspect alone, I see no real difference (nor fault). And if some people are prepared to shell out big bucks for a label - does it matter? It doesn't actually prevent others from selling at more reasonable cost (and the market will dictate that the majority continue to do so).
I would note one biggy though - pups produced on the sort of scale that enables breeders to be profitable rarely, if ever, are raised in the sort of home environment conducive to making good, well socialised and balanced pets. They're out in the kennel most of the time, and with far too many of them to have a hope of the one-on-one time needed to produce a well rounded individual. So you might get 'famous' bloodlines (good snob value there) - paying "for the name on the hood" as you put it, but may actually be buying an inferior "product". Inferior in this context meaning a dog that may not perform well as the loving pet and family member it is destined (hopefully) to be... And that, sadly, is a contributing factor to why some dogs end up in shelters - so it's not a minor issue either.
