Broke Ass Porn: Expensive Dogs

After spending multiple hours at the previously-reported Meet The Breeds event in New York, it became evident quite quickly just how burgeoning the cat/dog industry is. This includes the obvious and massive food, rubber diversion, cage, and clothing industries  – but it extends further. Because all of the aforementioned products actually fall into something of a corollary industry for feline/canines. The real money is in the pets themselves.

Breeders and insiders tend to disagree on whether or not breeding is a lucrative business. S0me breeders maintain that a truly responsible breeder infrequently makes much money because breeding animals requires an inordinate amount of both time and money. That’s hard to swallow, though,  mostly because for anyone who has ever bought a pedigree breed, it’s hard to see how the money won’t add up for a whole set of animals.

For example, an English Bulldog puppy can range from $2500 to $5000. But that’s actually pennies in comparison to how much a purebred Tibetan Mastiff can go for in China. The massive animals, a status symbol in China, can go for tens of thousands of dollars, sometimes as high as $100,000. Other dogs breeds might seem more reasonable. An Akita can cost around $500, which is certainly a far cry from breeds like the Rottweiler, which can cost ten times as much.

What’s clear is that the dog industry works in the opposite fashion from the vast majority of other industries, and for one main reason: Dogs really arent that hard to come by. In fact, the supply of dogs is so massive that there are people literally giving the things away for free.

This isn’t a particularly novel notion, nor will it really resound with anyone who has their heart set on a particular breed. Though living creatures, pedigree dogs operate no differently from designer handbags: They say something about the owners. Sometimes its a function of status, like with the Tibetan Mastiff, but oftentimes your choice of dog speaks to the general way that you desire to live your life. A large outdoor pet tends to require much exercise and outdoor time, and it is by buying (or adopting!) that animal that you are saying “I am an active person.” Sometimes, though, all of that is absent in the equation, making buying a dog really as simple as appreciating the animal on an aesthetic basis.  It may not be practical to own a Rottweiler in your apartment, but hot damn are those dogs pretty. And they would look wonderful with the drapes.

images courtesy of theowl84 and dphiffer,