Quote Originally Posted by wolfy-hound View Post
Mixing a borneo and a ball is mixing species. Mixing a pug and a poodle is mixing "morphs" of one species(the dog).
There's no real difference genetically in making a "puggle" than making a "bumblebee", since both mix seperate distinctly bred lines.
The REAL LIFE difference is in breeding dogs when many dogs are being put to sleep in shelters. But then you get.. why breed ANY dogs? It's a large can o worms to breed any dog.. whether purebred or not. Why not restrict breeding to only the very prime healthiest stock of purebred AKC breeds? Well.. because not all breeds are recognized by AKC. Some people prefer non-purebreds thinking purebreds are all inbred. Some like this.. some like that.
If someone breeds a litter of pups, correctly cares for parents and pups, and sells them into a good home, then I see no moral difference to that, than in a purebred breeder doing the same. There are many purebreds in shelters too!
That said, the ad is "clearly to me" for a mill type organization, since a family should not need that many dogs that they are advertising for, nor that many different breeds.
Why not charge big bucks for "mutts"? If someone will pay it, then charge it. Maybe that mutt will have more value in their eyes if they pay a big price. The issue is normally that people then try to breed THEIR dogs.. thinking they will make big money.. then they skimp on the care of the animals.. or skimp on the checking out the buyers...
Well.. another long ramble.
The big difference to me is that snakes are solitary by nature, and prefer to not have contact and socialization for the most part. Dogs are more needy, needing care and exercise and attention and affection and training. Can you keep 50 dogs for breeding and give ALL of them that? Now.. can you keep 50 snakes and give them what they need? Probaly so.
Unless you walk your snakes with that ultra cool snake walker of course...
Breeding 2 different kinds of dogs is not like breeding 2 different kinds of ball pythons. With 2 diff morphs of ball pythons, you have to remember that the only main differences are the colors and pattern of the snake. There arent any physical differences like size and shape of the animal. With dogs, they are all different sizes and shapes. In some cases it isnt even safe to breed 2 dogs together, or even physically possible (imagine a male great dane and a female chuhuahua for example) Even though some consider all dogs the same species, they have evolved to so many different breeds that it doesnt make sense to say a dog is a dog and all can/should be mixed. Would you say the same about snakes? Is a snake a snake? Going even more specific, is a python a python? Of course you can get diff kinds of pythons to breed just like you can get different kinds of dogs to breed but why would you want to mix them together when it is recognized by most serious breeders/owners as a mutt?