Dog Days

It's almost enough to make a conservative feel sorry for the President. Of all criticism that President Obama gets (fairly and unfairly), this one has to take the cake.

Animal Rights and Rescue groups are gearing up a propaganda machine of complaints against President Obama for making an informed choice of dog for his children. The hue and cry boils down to “How dare he choose his children over a shelter dog?”

PAWS Chicago and other rescuers are already messaging on Twitter to anyone that will pay attention ”there are 4 (Portuguese Water Dogs) on PetFinder today and a whole litter of PWD on adoptapet. Just had to look!” Except that this is an outright lie. The dogs currently available on these sites are all mixes, with the exception of 1 ‘possibly’ purebred senior female with issues likely making her unsuitable for the White House environment.

The Obamas have been very clear that they needed to get a non-shedding dog due to allergies in one child from the beginning. They indicated a preference for 2 types, the Portuguese Water Dog and the similar looking Labrador-Poodle mix often referred to as a Labradoodle. They would have quickly found out that the chances of a Labrador-Poodle mix shedding were 50-50, and so this mix dropped off the radar. This resulted in the Obamas opting for a 6 month old PWD pup, a known quantity of established temperament that suited the required criteria for the health of one of their children.

What the animal "right" groups fail to mention is that the reason the Obama's are getting a 6 month old dog from the breeder is that the dog is being "re-homed". The pup was originally purchased from the breeder by someone who then decided that (for whatever reason) they could not keep or work with the dog. One of the things that AR groups never tell you is that most reputable breeders have a "buy back" policy. They would much rather buy back their puppies rather than see them end up in shelters - as this breeder apparently had. Getting a "re-homed" dog is actually not a bad way to get a dog. It gets you a pure bred dog at (sometimes) a better price.

Regardless of whether the dog is "re-homed" or not, the bottom line is this. President Obama did the RIGHT THING, thinking of the needs of his children before bowing to the pressure of far-left wing AR extremists. He did what every parent should do. I would say that the AR extremists should be ashamed of themselves for criticizing President Obama on this except that they have no shame. All they care about is advancing an extremist agenda - no matter who gets hurt.