On the horns of a dilemma.....

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."—Dr. Suess

I have a dilemma on Twitter. As an advocate of adopting homeless pets rather than buying puppies from breeders, I follow a lot of other rescue groups and like-minded individuals. In my articles, I regularly slam breeders and kennel clubs for not doing enough to crack down on bad breeders and puppy mills.

However, the other day a breeder started following me, out of the blue - in fact they breed Blue Pit Bulls. According to my boss, who's been in the dog business for years, the Blues make the best fighters. I believe this breeder is in the south, and there's a lot of dog fighting in the south. I wondered how many of these puppies will end up dying in a fight....

Here's my problem - do I support them by following back (which I do like to do with anyone who has something to say, in this case champions of a breed I love) or do I just ignore them? Do I follow them and snipe at their tweets? Do I try to convert them to my cause? Do I do nothing? Do I moderate my views so as not to offend them...?

I make my money writing, and hope to hit the big time if someone picks up one of my blogs, zones or articles and gives me a regular gig on a prominent site or a magazine. By having a breeder follow me, I risk alienating a whole assortment of possible revenue sources, who might not agree with my views on breeding dogs, but might buy an article on housetraining a puppy.

Alienating breeders isn't the only dilemma. While I fully support reward-based training, I am a fan of a certain TV personality who is not too popular with behaviorists (I hasten to add that I do NOT use or advocate most of his methods). I can see alienating rescue groups with my views on hospice and rescue efforts for terminally ill animals. I get after veterinarians for charging too much, pushing unnecessary drugs and expensive dog food. I'm not a vegetarian.

And I can't wait to see the nasty remarks I get with the April Fools Blog I'm planning.....

But sometimes Fate hands you just what you need when you need it - I spotted the quote at the top of this post. So, I apologize if I offend anyone, but I have to stay true to what I believe - then again, I might just convert someone too.....