Last week I asked whether it was Petfinder or Microsoft that was interfering with this web site's bringing you photos of adoptable Dogues de Bordeaux, or crossbreeds. On the Tuesday morning, it was Microsoft. By the Friday night...I'm seeing clear evidence that Petfinder is under attack by the control freaks who want to censor domestic dogs into extinction.
Like this little crossbreed. More about him below.
Speaking personally and frankly as a pet owner, my recommendation would be that people looking for a good pet expose themselves to animals of the species that appeals to them--friends' pets' puppies, kittens, etc., shelter pets, Petfinder features--and see for themselves that, even if they have preferences about size, color, and coat type, it's easiest to bond with a mixed breed. Given their choice, animals will breed out funny-looking dysfunctional mutations and produce healthy offspring. Not only will natural selection do this; animals who aren't forced or desperate will usually choose healthy mates who don't share any defective genes they may carry. Thus our Serena consistently rejected tomcats who showed the Manx gene until one winter when the only breeding male in the neighborhood showed that gene, and gave birth to a kitten who died from the effects of the Manx gene rather than, as usual, the Seralini gene.
(Having kittens is Serena's best chance, as a Seralini cat, to survive all the drive-by spraying to which we've been subjected. She has not been feeling well this summer. If she didn't have the Seralini gene I'd think she might be more comfortable being spayed; since she does have that gene I know she might not live a year after being spayed. Silver's still alive, but she's not the beautiful healthy cat she used to be. We've all been poisoned. With overtly, admittedly, murderous intentions. Why I think so little of the men who are currently alive may have something to do with the fact that one of them is trying to kill me, under the terms of a loophole that shouldn't be in the law, over a small patch of land that's not even arable, and I've yet to see any of the others doing one thing about it. Well...the one who might be expected to do something is over eighty years old and has been poisoned too. I expect online readers are at least leaning hard on all of your elected officials to close the loophole, making it illegal to use or sell "pesticide" sprays outdoors. They have been and are used to injure and kill human beings. I have some names. And if the busybodies gave a dahm about animals, they'd stop whining about dog breeds and focus on those poison sprays.)
Anyway, mixed breeds tend to be healthy and lovable and, if you're not obsessed with a specific breed's look, appealing to the eye. But that's only one side of the coin, here. As Americans we need to be concerned about censorship. We must never allow censorship to work in the way the people who demand it want it to work.
There are some breeds of animals whose look depends on genes that I'd agree should be bred out of the pool. Bulldogs? Absolutely. Manx cats? Totally. Sometimes the lethal gene can be bred out while the valuable traits that go with it, other than a freaky look, are passed down separately through a line of normal-looking animals. Serena's grandfather had a defective tail, but although the Manx gene is dominant, Serena is only a carrier; she has a normal tail. If the fathers of her kittens also have normal tails, and the Seralini Effect doesn't turn fetuses into mere self-cleaning mechanisms for the mother's body, the kittens will be healthy. Meanwhile Serena is an American Short Hair, if on the wide-framed side, known to have a Manx grandfather and a Siamese great-great-grandfather, and she has all the best features of all three breeds. It's worth getting to know crossbreed dogs, too.
But that's before the busybodies stomped onto the scene, screaming for suppression of any mention of the breeds they hate--even beagles (maybe they got some funding from Anthony Fauci?). Right. Until the busybodies have stepped forward to confess, repent, and atone, it would be a good thing for human society if people intentionally adopted dogs of those breeds. If the look is in fact dysfunctional, then adopting those dogs from shelters where they've all been sterilized anyway is a good option.
Failing that, one can also adopt them from responsible breeders who sterilize the puppies who show the worst problem genes--the bulldogs who not only can't swim and have trouble breathing in hot weather, but also inherit heart or eye disease, e.g.
Either way, the individual dogs may not live as long as dogs of different breeds born in the same year, but so long as they're not in pain, they can be valuable to society by making a statement about censorship. We can burn up the Internet with pictures and stories of what wonderful pets our beagles and corgis and spaniels are. We can show the would-be censors that interest in dog breeds rises when idiots squeal that they want newspapers to stop printing pictures of certain types of dogs. The censored newspaper have, I believe, already learned how much censorship is costing them. We all need to work to remove any possible pay-off from any kind of censorship.
In the case of dogs whose breeds are defined by defects, like the next breed on our list, the ideal thing would be to rescue the dogs from shelters. Free shelter space for other animals in need, and choose a dog who won't be adding any more problem genes to the pool to parade past a bossyboots' house every evening.
Petfinder is trying, with this next breed...but people are sabotaging efforts to get these dogs neutered and adopted.
The first breed I looked up today was the Glen of Imaal Terrier. This is a small, somewhat defective dog that was first bred in a remote rural corner of Ireland. I had never heard of it before the name turned up on the list of breeds the would-be dictators want to render extinct. There are some obvious problems with the breed; few Americans are interested in it. I was surprised that Petfinder even had a page for it, but they have one.
Shelters and organizations associated with Petfinder have created a total of three pages for Glen of Imaal Terriers in search of homes in Washington and eleven in New York. And all fourteen pages are in aid of exactly two dogs. Both are crossbreeds. I was able to get a photo and web page address for the gray dog, shown above; his web page at
...is likely not to work by tomorrow morning. Enemies of the US Constitution right here in the United States have tampered with most of the web pages set up to help these two lovable little crossbreeds find homes. Other pages for these two dogs didn't work. Some opened messages saying the pages did not exist. Some redirected back to the main page with all the mixed breeds, which I thought could probably be guaranteed an effective way to steer someone looking for a specific type of dog straight away from rescue organizations, running to a breeder. People yapping for censorship in the name of animals do not, in fact, give a dahm about the animals. They are all about control.
The Glen of Imaal Terrier has a look defined by a gene for a type of dwarfism. It's a full-sized dog on miniature legs. Short legs both reduce the efficiency with which terriers can dig and reduce the size of the tunnels they need to excavate to dig out rats and other nuisance species, so their overall effect on survival may be neutral. Nevertheless, to most people a purebred, truly typy GIT looks ridiculous.
A show quality GIT is a little over a foot high at the shoulder, weighs 30 to 40 pounds, and is likely to live ten or fifteen years. Most owners give these dogs full marks for affectionate bonds with the family, high marks for behaving well with children, and average ratings for relationships with other pets--terriers have been known to eat other pets who were smaller than the terriers. Tendencies to joint, eye, and neuromuscular diseases run in some bloodlines; responsible breeders will sterilize the dogs who inherit these genes and at least tell you what you're adopting. The coat needs brushing and the ears need cleaning once a week. (The American Kennel Club recommends buying a "grooming table" for a GIT; they don't recommend this expense with every breed.) Grooming is necessary to keep the coat from forming mats that harbor fleas; GITs don't shed much. They need frequent exercise but will flop down when tired, before those stubby little legs can carry them very far. For the first year puppies should be protected from jumping off furniture or going down stairs. They're intelligent enough to be easy to train, can be stubborn about training that goes against their instincts, and are not known for bonding with other dogs. All terriers are built to run and hunt differently than other types of dogs; few could run very far with a pack of hounds and collies, but the Glen of Imaal Terrier is sometimes said to be more independent than other terriers. I have seen homeless terrier and spaniel type dogs running in their own little packs. But some, not all, GITs attack other small dogs.
Problem? GITs like to be with their humans. When they're left outside in a fenced yard, see something they want to chase, and burrow out under the fence, then there may be a problem for neighbors' pets and potentially for your GIT. If your dog stays near you or indoors where it can't get out, there should be no problem.
There aren't a lot of GITs in North America and there probably don't need to be more. There aren't a lot of the next breed on the list, either. Petfinder doesn't even have a listing for Grand Bassets, but it has plenty of Basset Hounds. We looked at them last spring. There are enough Bassets in shelters that we can look at them again.
Bassets are also good-sized dogs on short stubby legs. And they have long floppy ears, which busybodies don't like. They are also prone to the delusion that they can sing, which your neighbors may not like.
Since I found three cute Persian cat photos last week, this week I'll go with Manx.
Zipcode 10101: Tigress from Corpus Christi by way of Ridgefield, New Jersey
Part Basset and part Labrador Retriever, Tigress is unlikely to be mistaken for any other dog. When that photo was taken she was not quite 6 months old and weighed 32 pounds. She's probably bigger than that by now and likely to keep growing. She is described as a sweet, gentle, affectionate pet. Neither Bassets nor Labs are known for cleverness, but she can probably learn basic dog etiquette if people are patient and gentle with her.
Cressida from Mississippi by way of Oakland
Her web page: https://www.petfinder.com/cat/cressida-4b5007b9-88fb-44fe-a61d-7b6816602b8a/nj/oakland/for-pets-sake-rescue-ms229/details/
Typical gray tabby Manx, Cressida likes to make up her mind about when or whether to snuggle, but when she lets her inner snugglebunny out to play she makes people feel loved.
20202: Beau from Jarrettsville, Maryland
Have you seen a more classic Basset? This young hound is described as a sweet pet who needs some work--basic training, ideally with a better trained senior dog companion. He's prone to stray and needs lots of walks, with a double leash, to burn off his adolescent energy and a strong deep fence to keep him from being a nuisance. He does well with cats. He does not do so well with men or children. So he's not for everybody, but he'd be a great pet for some people.
Sasha from Herndon
Sasha is available as a foster pet! She likes to take her time getting to know people. While she's getting to know you, you can get to know her, free of charge. If you can bear to part with her, you can help her find a purrmanent home.
30303: Gelato from Carrollton
This Basset-terrier crossbreed is just five months old--a friendly, bouncy, yappy puppy who likes going for walks and running up to the fence to greet other dogs. He needs someone who can discipline his enthusiasm without breaking his happy spirit.
Jinx from Winder
Her web page: https://www.petfinder.com/cat/jinx-manx-2026-308-a8dc1002-115e-44f6-8fd1-45ab3354d960/ga/winder/pup-cat-co-ga76/details/
This cute, quiet, slightly shy kitten has no tail at all. If you love her, which you probably will, you'll have her spayed. She takes her time about deciding whom to snuggle up beside. If she chooses you, you will know you've been chosen.
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