...but you have to think of the welfare of the animal. Here in Florida dogs have to have an expensive medicine routinely to prevent heartworm, a horrible disease transmitted by mosquitoes, hence the cost of ethical dog ownership is prohibitive.

Amerigo, heartworm is EVERYWHERE. I don't know an area of the country that doesn't have it to some extent. I've had dogs since I was a kid, and have routinely given all of them heartworm preventive.

My vet sells me a generic of Heartgard, and it's quite inexpensive--something like $14 for a 6-month supply for the 25-50 lb dog range. These medicines also prevent roundworms (and probably some other type of worm that I just can't remember at the moment).

I keep my dogs on heartworm preventive year-round (and I have 3!) They are on a 3-year vaccination protocol, with the rabies vaccine offset from the other (3-year rabies vaccines are legal in my state). And I don't vaccinate for Coronavirus or kennel cough.

They are not on any flea preventive--sometimes I'll Frontline the youngest late in the season, but I found that once I stopped having cats, I stopped having a flea problem. I do not know if these things are related, but a dog and a cat always equaled fleas in the house for me, whereas several dogs=no fleas. The youngest dog seems to have a flea-bite allergy that I hope he'll grow out of.

I give them high-quality kibble mixed with some raw and they get the occasional table scrap. These are high-energy dogs involved in performance events, and I keep them them thin. To me, that's key. Your vet will only tell you your dog's too fat if he's REALLY too fat. A lot of problems can be minimized or averted by keeping a dog thin.

That's ridiculous.

However, I recently switched vets when the first vet gave me a teeth cleaning and extraction estimate for my 13-year-old dog of $700. Talked to someone else, they gave me an estimate of $200, ended up charging me less because the extraction was so easy. Sure, a dog is not a car, but for a basic thing like teeth cleaning, there's no reason not to ask around.

Speaking as someone who has had both rescues and dogs froma breeder, if you want a dog for a specific purpose--a working dog, or a dog for dog sports--it behooves you to make a considered decision about that dog. That means you will want to take into account the temperament, structure and health of the parents, the parents' drive and involvement in the activity you are choosing to do with the young dog. If you get a purebred, or the offspring of a considered crossbreeding (there is a lot of crossbreeding for Flyball), you can have an idea of all those things.

GOOD breeders

--perform all relevant tests and health checks on the dogs they breed.

--carefully screen the homes they sell their dogs to.

--sell pet puppies or adults on spay/neuter contracts (or alter the adults they place before they go home).

--will ALWAYS take back one of their dogs for ANY reason.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with getting a pet from a shelter, but keep in mind that adult dogs were given up FOR A REASON. In the shelters I have volunteered at, many, many of the dogs had restrictions (NO CHILDREN being the biggest one) or health issues (it's just as common for mixed breeds to have thyroid issues, hip and elbow dysplasia, eye problems, etc.).

It was hard for families to find a nice, medium-sized, family dog at the shelter I volunteered at. And people were often turned away (kids too young, no fenced yard, gone too long during the day, etc.). Whereas if you develop a relationship with a breeder, they are much more likey to understand your particular situation and help find the right dog FOR YOU.

Not all animals kill...only the carnivorous ones. Giraffes, elephants, and the cow, pigs, etc do not eat meat. Much of the animal kingdom is gentle and does not kill to eat.

Just because an animal doesn't eat meat doesn't mean it's "gentle". And many animals will happily eat whatever's available to them. I've seen chickens squabble over the bones of a chicken dinner thrown into their yard. I've seen pigs catch, kill, and eat a chicken that was unlucky enough to get in to their pen.

Whedon wants to encourage thought. Fox and Rupert Murdoch want to encourage obedience. 'Nuff said.

They do what SELLS. Hate Fox News all you want (and I do) the fact is that *I* personally watch very little network TV OTHER than Fox. And many of the shows Fox puts on literally bite the hands that feed them--but the shows are POPULAR, and Fox keeps them on.

Partial list of shows I watch on Fox:

House

The Simpsons

King of the Hill

American Dad

Family Guy

Fringe

Bones

I like animated shows, so sue me. I know a lot of people HATE Family Guy/American Dad and their creator, but you cannot deny that their sensibility/political bent is the COMPLETE antithesis of Fox--but Fox keeps them on because they're POPULAR. In fact, the gentlest and least political (or most in line with Fox-style politics) of the shows listed above is ALSO probably the least popular/most likely to get canceled at this point--King of the Hill.

The protagonists of "House" and "Bones" are both quite vocal atheists. Weird stuff happens on Fringe with no reference at all to a god above, though I suppose it might happen eventually. The X-Files (also a Fox hit) was more religious than Fringe.

Just saying--Fox is about the dollar, not about the politics, no matter what Fox News is like.