One of the few writers to ever give an unblinking look at what really happened to a litter that they themselves bred, was J.R. Ackerley, the author of My Dog Tulip.
Ackerley starts off breeding his dog with all good intent, but in the end the litter that is produced is whelped by a temperamentally poor bitch (Tulip) to a stud dog of no consequence.
The eight pups that result quickly overwhelm Ackerley and his apartment to the point that, despite all apparent intention of doing the right thing at the front end, on the back end he ends up abandoning the pups to anyone with a fiver who will walk one out the door.
What happens next is predictable: disease, disappearance, abandonement and death.
And this was J.R. Ackerley! He was not a mean person, a knuckle-dragger, an illiterate, or a person without some means.
This was simply one more person who did not understand the full responsibility that comes when you bring a living thing into this world. When faced with shouldering that responsibility he failed. Yes, he lost a little of his dignity but those pups lost their life.
Responsibility.
It's the R-word no one really wants to talk about too much in the world of dogs.
Instead, people want to talk about property rights and ribbons. But responsibility to the dog? Responsibility to the puppies being whelped?
When was the last time anyone said too much about that?
Ackerley starts off breeding his dog with all good intent, but in the end the litter that is produced is whelped by a temperamentally poor bitch (Tulip) to a stud dog of no consequence.
The eight pups that result quickly overwhelm Ackerley and his apartment to the point that, despite all apparent intention of doing the right thing at the front end, on the back end he ends up abandoning the pups to anyone with a fiver who will walk one out the door.
What happens next is predictable: disease, disappearance, abandonement and death.
And this was J.R. Ackerley! He was not a mean person, a knuckle-dragger, an illiterate, or a person without some means.
This was simply one more person who did not understand the full responsibility that comes when you bring a living thing into this world. When faced with shouldering that responsibility he failed. Yes, he lost a little of his dignity but those pups lost their life.
Responsibility.
It's the R-word no one really wants to talk about too much in the world of dogs.
Instead, people want to talk about property rights and ribbons. But responsibility to the dog? Responsibility to the puppies being whelped?
When was the last time anyone said too much about that?
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