Obama's Bo Bought From Breeder

[AnimalAvenger]

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – Animal rescuers voiced disappointment on Monday that President Barack Obama and his family chose a purebred dog from a breeder over rescuing an unwanted animal from a shelter.

Bo, the first family's new Portuguese Water Dog, is six-month-old puppy who was returned to his Texas breeder by a previous owner.

"I think all of us who work trying to place homeless animals had hoped that they would choose a shelter dog," said Steve Gruber, spokesman for the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals in New York City.

"His choosing to go to a breeder is a disappointment. Choosing a shelter dog, that would have been a really powerful message to the American people," he said.

The Portuguese Water Dog was chosen in part because the breed is hypoallergenic and Malia Obama has allergies.

However such a dog could have been found on any number of Internet rescue sites or through Portuguese Water Dog rescue groups, said Antonia Kwalick, adoption coordinator for the Infinite Hope rescue group in Brooklyn, New York.

Take Pepper, a young Portuguese Water Dog up for adoption in nearby Arlington, Virginia, found online with just a few quick keys strokes on the computer, Kwalick said. The shaggy brown-eyed Pepper is described by her rescuers as an "adorable and sweet" dog who "loves kids."

"I am really disappointed," Kwalick said, calling the Obamas' decision "elitist" for "wanting a pure breed and getting it from a breeder so that it is presumed perfect."

"It would have been good for the girls to actually walk into a shelter to see how many animals need homes. They should have set a better example," she said.

In the blogosphere, opinions were mixed. While some bloggers were critical, others noted that Bo already had been returned by one owner and needed a home.

Others noted first-time dog owners might fare poorly with a rescue dog, and others felt the decision was a private matter. Also, the Obamas will reportedly make a donation to an animal shelter.

Some rescuers voiced concern of a possible surge in the number of people wanting Portuguese Water Dogs who could find themselves unable to care for the high-energy canines. Those dogs could land in shelters, where millions of unwanted dogs and cats are euthanized every year, they said.

"It's a cycle that should stop," said Kwalick.

www.animalrightsdiscussion.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=25293

[AnimalAvenger]

Here's one from MSNBC:

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30194173/

WASHINGTON - Is Bo a rescued dog or not? Did President Obama keep or break a campaign promise in picking the purebred as the family’s new pet?

The twists and turns of the Portuguese water dog’s route to the White House make for the kind of intrigue that political junkies and the highly opinionated dog world delight in.

Barack Obama and his wife Michelle said during the presidential campaign that they had promised their two girls a dog after the election.

The Obamas repeatedly said they wanted it to be a rescued dog such as one from a shelter. Their search was complicated by daughter Malia’s allergies, which would rule out many of the “mutts” the president has said he would prefer.

Enter Bo, a 6-month-old puppy given up by his first owner and matched with the Obamas through his breeders. Because he was given up by his first owner as a poor fit and is now with his second owners, the Obamas, but never spent time in a shelter or with a rescue group, Bo is a “quasi-rescue dog,” says Wayne Pacelle, chief executive of The Humane Society of the United States.

Here’s where the intrigue comes in:

* Bo’s breeders happen to have bred Sen. Edward Kennedy’s Portuguese water dogs. The Massachusetts Democrat, an Obama friend and political ally, also acquired a pup from Bo’s litter. Bo’s breeders are fans of Obama and named Bo’s litter the Hope and Change litter.
* Bo’s first owner lives in Washington.
* Bo was returned to the breeder in early March, fitting the spring timeline the Obamas had given for their dog adoption.
* Kennedy and his wife Victoria helped line Bo up with the Obamas. Before moving into the White House, the pup spent nearly a month with the Kennedys’ dog trainer in Virginia.

In fact, Bo is a gift to the Obamas’ daughters, Malia and Sasha, from the Kennedys, said Katie McCormick Lelyveld, a spokeswoman for Michelle Obama. The puppy officially arrives Tuesday.

“They were starting their search with shelter dogs, but when the Kennedys learned of this dog and offered it as a gift to the girls, they met the dog, it was a perfect fit for their lifestyle and for Malia’s health concerns,” she said, adding that the Obamas are making a donation to the Washington Humane Society. “Because this gift came before their pound search sort of was completed, they made a gift to some of the places they were looking.”

‘He’s in a gray area’
Still, conspiracy buffs might speculate that Bo was meant for the Obamas all along. Was his adoption engineered to look like a rescue — or at least blur the line to head off criticism that the Obamas had picked a purebred from a breeder?

The Humane Society’s Pacelle acknowledged that the Obamas never flat-out promised to get a dog from a pound or rescue group. And the society has kind words for Obama on its Web site: “Thanks, Mr. President, for giving a second-chance dog a forever home,” it says.

“He’s in a gray area,” Pacelle said of Bo. “But I will say that many animal advocates are disappointed that he (Obama) didn’t go to a shelter or breed rescue group, partly because he set that expectation and because so many activists are focused on trying to reduce the number of animals euthanized at shelters, and there’s no better person to make the case to the American public that you can get a great dog from a shelter than the president.”

Bo could be considered rescued, since he was removed from a situation that wasn’t working, said Cesar Millan, host of the National Geographic Channel’s “The Dog Whisperer” and co-founder with his wife of a nonprofit foundation to help abused dogs.

To help Bo settle in, the Obamas should walk him a lot in the early days to bond with him, drain his energy and make him hungry for his meals, Millan said. That will give the dog a routine and help him see that the family is the source of his food, and he has to work for it, he said.

Puppy mill fears
Bo’s breeder, Martha Stern of Boyd, Texas, said she doesn’t consider Bo a rescued dog. Owners of dogs from the kennel she and her husband run must sign contracts requiring them to return the dogs to the Sterns if they do not work out, she said. Bo went from his first home, in Washington, to the Kennedys’ trainer in Virginia, and now to the White House, she said.

Portuguese water dogs aren’t for everyone, Stern said. Known as PWDs, they tend to be high-energy “in-your-face” dogs that need a lot of attention, and their curly coats require a lot of maintenance, she said.

Stern said the first family did a lot of research and already knew the breed’s pros and cons, and that Victoria Kennedy was closely involved. Bo seemed like a good fit because the Obamas are an active family and have the resources to give him the training and other things he needs, Stern said.

“I wouldn’t say he’s excessively high in energy,” she said, but still a “little bit more than middle-of-the-road.”

“On a scale of five, he’s probably about three,” Stern said.

The dog’s non-shedding coat also makes him a good choice, given Malia Obama’s allergies.

Stern worries that puppy mills will try to capitalize on the Obamas’ dog choice and start churning out PWDs for an eager public. It’s the responsibility of good Portuguese water dog breeders to try to prevent that, she said.

As for Bo, he has already been neutered, Mrs. Obama’s spokeswoman said.