Poochie Politics

AP Photo


As expected, the furor rages over whether President Obama broke a campaign promise by not adopting a shelter dog. Some are upset, some are angry. In fact, there's even a "conspiracy" theory that the new Presidential pup was mysteriously returned to his breeder in the exact timeline the Obamas outlined for getting their girls a dog. Therefore while not technically a rescue, the adoption could be considered to fall in a more gray area.

Only in Washington could getting a dog become so, well, political.

Don't get me wrong. I'm first in line to advocate for adopting a shelter dog. But I admire the Obamas for taking their time and carefully researching their decision. For if more folks approached adopting an animal in this way, far fewer critters would be abandoned to shelters in the first place.

The bigger worry for rescue groups now, in my opinon, is the mad rush for people to adopt a Portuguese Water Dog simply because the Obamas did. Without making certain that the highly active canine is right for their family, rescue groups could actually see an increase in surrenders. Too often people don't do their homework.

And that's the real problem.