Obama Dog - Say What?

In the flurry of reporting surrounding the arrival of a new dog for the Obama family, I have come across multiple references to a shelter donation being made by the Obamas.  Exactly where the donation is going is a bit puzzling.

Lynn Sweet is reporting it's "a Humane Society".

Dogtime says it's "the Humane Society" (with link to HSUS site)

CNN:

CNN has confirmed that President Obama and the first lady will make a donation to the Washington D.C. Humane Society.

I think CNN is referring to the Washington Humane Society. They have a blog but it hasn't been updated since April 9 (before the Obama dog story broke).  Since the HSUS doesn't operate any shelters for pets and Washington Humane Society does, I'm thinking it's probably the latter who will receive the donation.



HSUS doesn't say anything about a donation but inexplicably, they write:

Families, like the Obamas, who are interested in a particular breed of animal or have special circumstances such as allergies in their household can turn to their local animal shelter or breed rescue group. About one-quarter of all dogs in shelters are purebreds, many surrendered by their owners like the new First Dog.

This certainly could be interpreted as indicating the Obamas got a dog whose original owner surrendered him to a shelter.  This is not only misleading but completely misses the point that has responsible breeders across the country cheering the coverage of this story:  The Obamas got a dog who didn't work out in his original home and so the breeder took him back.  This is what responsible breeders do - take dogs back who, for whatever reason, can no longer be kept by the original buyer.  This is why responsible breeders are not contributing to the shelter population and why, despite what radical AR activists say, all breeders are not alike.

I'm just happy the Obamas got a dog.  Dogs make good pets.  Per me.