What’s Wrong with Dog Breeding in America?
Deb gets Liz Menegon on the show ahead of her interviews with the Washington Post, Forbes and USA Today, to tackle the topic of what’s wrong with dog breeding in America? Did you know that the USDA in charge of regulating food animals is also in charge of the pet industry? Is the AKC doing a good job policing bad apples in the breeding world? Liz says ‘no’. Puppy mills are thriving, and the pups and new owners are suffering. Liz has a new app called HANDS2PAWS that helps people discover what breed best suits their needs and then directs them to the breed clubs with registries of ethical local breeders.
What about mutts? You can use the app to find the breeds that match you and then get a rescue mutt with a combination of those breeds. Deborah explains that when she released her quiz ‘PICK YOUR PUP’ she asked Dr Professor Stan Coren, author of ‘the Intelligence of dogs’ how people could find the right mutt for them; and he confirmed Deborah’s observation that ‘what you see is what you get’ with mutts. If the pup you are considering adopting has floppy ears, webbed paws and likes to fetch you’ve got a mostly retriever for example so the app HANDS2PAWS can be used to find mutts as well as purebreds and lead prospective pet owners to adopt a shelter dog that is their best match.
Listen to Episode #154 Now:
BIO:
Elizabeth Menegon spent her career in the hotel industry until covid struck NYC in March 2020. Determined to make the best out of a difficult situation, and while struggling to find products to cure her dry skin, she launched her all-natural, small batch skincare company, SugarSkinn. Always having had a love for dogs, Elizabeth created a product for dog’s paws called Pawsome Paw Balm that not only helped cure dry, cracked puppy paws, but gave back to animal shelters in her area through a portion of proceeds. This project sparked a passion for another entrepreneurial journey and prompted Elizabeth to find a way to help dogs in a more meaningful way. Through many conversations and much research, Elizabeth uncovered one of the biggest issues that lead to dogs being surrendered to shelters—mismatched owners and dogs. Hands2Paws was born in 2022 and has quickly grown to be loved by breeders, animal shelters and dog lovers of all kinds.