Ethics in Breeding

[animal addict]

To those breeders out there - what ethics do you adhere to when breeding? Who sets these ethics? What is classed as wrong or bad practise?? How important or how much value to you place on ethics in breeding? Would you breed from say a rescue animal within 2-3 months of you acquiring it? Or an animal that has an unknown background or history? How mush does ethics differ between species?

Please discuss it would be interesting to know peoples views

[enola69]

I would breed from a rescue providing it was 100% healthy.

I recently was given an aph that had lost a good 30% of its quills. It had some kind of skin complaint and was slightly underweight.

I have had her nearly a month now and she has regrown all of her quills, her skin has responded to the treatment and she has put on over 100g in weight.

I would have no problems in breeding her now!

HOWEVER - i have no guarantee on her age. Was told she was roughly 8 months, I have no original paper work to tell me and also do not know the name of the pet shop she originally came from - so i will not breed her.

She is taking up valuable space - ie could have another breediing female in my herd but I know I have her best interests at heart by not breeding her.

[saxon]

I dont' breed any rescues, not even my own returns that I have bred in the first place, I can only take the word of the owner as to how they have been raised.

I also will take back any of my animals and I take responsibility thoroughout their lives.

I try to find homes where they will stay forever but this is not always possible for various reasons.
I have my animals back for holidays etc.

To the point that I am haivng two does back for a 6 month period as hte owner is working away for 6 months.

[Marcia]

I would NEVER breed from a rescue. I only breed from gerbils with a known genetic background.
I only breed when i know i am going to keep 1 or 2 pups for myself and any pups that don't sell stay with me

[feorag]

I bred cats for 20 years and I wouldn't have bred from a rescue unless I had her papers, knew her pedigree and her circumstances and only if it was right for the queen.

I sold all my kittens on the proviso that if at any time they had to be rehomed the owner would come back to me and if I couldn't take in the cat myself (for good reason), then I would help find the home so that I could continue to monitor the cat. Over the 20 years I brought one back into the house because she was still a kitten, had never been allowed outside the house, so no infection risk and at that time we only had 5 cats. Since then I've found homes for about 5 others that have needed to be rehomed for various reasons, 2 of them were in Banff in the far north of Scotland!

I have never neutered and rehomed one of my queens when she was past breeding age, as this is a practice that I particularly disagree with. Because of that particular ethic I am no longer breeding because when my last breeding queen was due to be neutered, I didn't have the space to keep a kitten to carry on my lines.

I neutered my Siamese queen after she reabsorbed her first litter and needed an aural ablation because of polyps on her eardrum. My vet assured me that neither problems were genetic, but I wasn't prepared to take the risk, as I would not have wanted to produce a kitten with those problems again.

Finally I would never breed from any animal that I knew had specific genetic problems anywhere in the breeding lines.

Therefore, I considered myself to be an ethical breeder.

[LisaLQ]

To those breeders out there - what ethics do you adhere to when breeding?

My own. I breed from healthy friendly rats with known histories from the best lines I can find. I'm aiming to better the health and temperament of a specific variety, rather than breeding for the sake of it. I dont breed for profit. I will only breed from a doe once, twice if necessary but never more than that. I breed one or two litters at most at a time. I breed for myself primarily, and for pet homes secondary. My rats are all pets, I dont have "stock". I dont sell my pets via pet shops. I choose who is the best home for my rats. All owners have to sign a non-breeding contract unless otherwise arranged. I sell to over 18s only, anyone under that age or still needing parental permission needs to get their parents to apply. My contract also states if circumstances change and they need to rehome their rats, they must come back to me, and I'll find them a new home (and this is not for profit either, as I dont charge for rehomes, but to ensure they go to a good home where I can keep in touch).

Who sets these ethics?

Me.

What is classed as wrong or bad practise??

Ask different people they'll all give you different answers. Ethics are very personal. What one person might find ethical, another might not.

How important or how much value to you place on ethics in breeding?

Depends what you're talking about.

Would you breed from say a rescue animal within 2-3 months of you acquiring it?

Absolutely not - it's a huge break of trust, as most rescues are homed on a non-breeding contract or understanding.

Or an animal that has an unknown background or history?

I wouldn't personally, but it would depend on the circumstances. Eg. I know people have had to resort to feeder breeder rats or pet shop rats to start a new variety. However this shouldn't be an excuse for Joe Bloggs to breed from his pet shop or BYB rats (IMO).

How mush does ethics differ between species?

Cant say, I only breed rats. Most of my personal "ethics" would be the same regardless of species (eg breeding only from healthy animals from the best breeders, never breeding from a rescue etc).

[animal addict]

well there are some really good replies there - and a lot higher standards that I expected to be honest - all too often I hear 'Its my pet and I will do what I want I'm not stupid etc' its good to know that people still hold high values and aim always to breed to that level and that its across the board - do you think that there are a lot of people that dont think enough about these things? or why not more people strive to aim to these standards??

[feorag]

I think too many people get into breeding because they think they can make money out of it, especially when they see the prices pedigree dogs (and 'designer crosses') and cats are.

However, a good breeder seldom ever makes money out of breeding, not if they're doing it right!

[thalie_knights]

i think by taking even a quick glance at the shelters and seeing the amount of staff/crosses which are there day in/day out, and which are bred purely as a means of making 200-300 per puppy per litter, its clear that more and more people are trying to fund their own pockets rather than actually leave the breeding side out of it..

[Marcia]

Originally Posted by feorag

I think too many people get into breeding because they think they can make money out of it, especially when they see the prices pedigree dogs (and 'designer crosses') and cats are.

However, a good breeder seldom ever makes money out of breeding, not if they're doing it right!

I totally agree.

I make a loss on every gerbil. I don't gain any extra money and i'm glad. I breed for the love of the animal