To think that huskies and malamutes have become the new Staffies?

[Rhine]

This is something that concerns me greatly. Over the past year or so I've noticed an explosion in the numbers of people who own Huskies and Malamutes. I live near a block of council flats and there are at least four or five husky/malamute types of dog living there at the moment.

Obviously people can own whatever dog they like, but I have to question the mentality of someone who purchases a large working dog when they live in a pokey flat with no garden? It concerns me greatly as these dogs need a ot of exercise, probably more so than any other breed in fact as they were bread to pull sledges across the arctic. It worries me because it's quite clear people have taken them on without doing their research and realising just how much care they need.

I don't want to sound like a massive snob, but these new owners seem to be the kind of people who a few years ago would have opted for a Staffy instead. Animal shelters are full of them, give it a few years and they'll be full of husky type dogs instead...

I hate that dogs have become either fashion accessories or given human characteristics. They are creatures who deserve respect and the most natural life possible.
I know of a family who own a husky. It is never walked and barks constantly. They have a history of cruelty to animals. First they had a akita which had to be put down because neighbours complained. Then they had a couple of puppies that they left in a locked shed over 3 very hot days and the puppies died. Now they have a husky. Some days I want to set the animal free and let it run and run.
My local FB selling page is full of litters of puppies from stupid amateur breeders. I hate what we have done to dogs in this country.

It's about time a government got really tough on pet breeding and ownership as a whole; you have to have a license to breed animals and to get the license you have to pass some sort of test to prove you know what you're doing. Same when you want to buy an animal. Something has to be done to stop idiots mating their dogs with their idiot mates' dogs and selling the pups to idiots who know nothing about responsible dog ownership. It's a free-for-all and it's the animals that suffer.

I found out recently that my ex bought himself a 6 week old mastiff cross puppy (from who knows where ). He loved the one I had (which incidentally I adopted at 9 months old because he was "too much for his previous owners" due to lack of training!) but didn't have much of a clue with him (and certainly no idea how to deal with behavioural issues). This is also his first dog. The fact it was younger than the recommended age to leave it's mother, after all I've told him about rescue centres and breeders, suggests he's an idiot who's lined an idiot's pockets. Wanker!