www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/03/20/news/californian/31906192121.txt
State poll on illegal immigration A recent statewide poll incidated that an increasing number of Califorians' don't consider illegal immigration as a negative trend. The Field Poll showed that 47 percent of state residents see illegal immigration as beneficial to the state's economy. That number is a significant increase from a 1982 study, when just 19 percent saw it as favorable.
Resident develops new breed of dog-like cat - the puppykat By: JOSE CARVAJAL - Staff Writer LAKE ELSINORE ---- It's not a dog; It's a "puppykat," a new breed of cat developed by Lake Elsinore resident Dawn Houston. Houston says she stumbled across the puppykat seven years ago, when two wild cats she had rescued mated. Their offspring were very puppylike, she said, so she gave them the new moniker and began breeding more of them. Three years ago, she said, she began breeding them full time. Houston, who said she has rescued animals most of her life, has big plans for the puppykat. Already, she has registered the breed with the Rare and Exotic Feline Registry. And she plans to continue to breed and sell puppykats ---- she guesses she has already sold more than 40 of them in the last seven years for between $275 and $675 ---- so that she can raise enough money to fund future cat-rescue efforts. Those efforts include plans for responsible breeding education programs and plans to get lax breeding regulations changed. The puppykat, Houston said, has become popular with people who like their pets to have certain traits more commonly found in dogs. Like their canine counterparts, puppykats are more social, curious and playful, she said. Their physical traits ---- mainly their folded ears and shorter tails ---- are also doglike. "A lot of people that would have never gotten a cat are now open to owning a cat," Houston said. Kent Broussard bought two cats from Houston about a year ago. He said that, while the Manx is standoffish and tends be content on its own, the puppykat craves the attention of humans and is much more playful. "She just has to be around people," the Laguna Beach resident said. "She definitely follows you in the other room like a puppy. While the results may be adorable and Houston may have found a market for the puppykat, her breeding hasn't been received positively by everybody. Breeders and cat lovers from across the country have sent dozens of e-mails and letters criticizing her for mixing the Scottish fold, Manx and polydactyl breeds, something they consider dangerous to the health of the cats. She takes great care to make sure the cats she uses in breeding don't carry the same dominant genes, she said, thus eliminating potential dangerous genetic threats to the cats. Plus, she isn't doing what many breeders do, Houston said, in overbreeding their cats by inbreeding or by making individual cats have too many litters. Those can each have detrimental effects on generations and generations of cats, she said. "If you do it wrong, it could be traumatic," Houston said. Houston also shot back at the animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, whose members have heavily criticized her the last several weeks after reading a news report about her breeding. They have sent dozens of e-mails and letters, she said, many of which have been less than pleasant. PETA researcher Dan Paden said that his organization was contacted by more than 100 people who complained that, through her breeding, Houston is contributing to the overpopulation of cats. The organization issued an action alert through its Web site, he said, asking people to contact Houston and ask her to stop the breeding. It also urged them to ask her to donate the money she has made through selling puppykats to spaying and neutering programs. The alert calls Houston's plan of breeding puppykats in an effort to help rescue other cats the "most dim-witted idea ever." It states that breeders like Houston "have created a tremendous overpopulation problem that forces animal shelters across the nation to put millions of dogs and cats to death every year." Paden said PETA has never before issued an action alert for a breeder like Houston. "No one before has ever proposed that purposefully breeding animals is a good way to help fight the overpopulation crisis," he said. But Houston said that those who have accused her of contributing to the overpopulation problem don't know what they're talking about. There will always be people out there, she said, who prefer to buy cats from professional breeders instead of shelters. More importantly, Houston said, every cat she sells is spayed or neutered before it is released to its new owner. All the fuss raised over her puppykat breeding is much ado about nothing, she said. Contact staff writer Jose Carvajal at (951) 676-4315, Ext.
Note: Comments reflect the views of readers and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff. Maybe then they'll see there's more to breeding than notoriety and money. " Nancy wrote on Mar 20, 2006 7:04 AM: " Looks like some one is seriously messing with the gene pool. Yeah start another craze like the dalmations a few years ago. wrote on Mar 20, 2006 8:11 AM: " I wonder if she have anything to do with the creation of the Lama? " It's Just A Cat wrote on Mar 20, 2006 8:24 AM: " Floppy ears on a cat does not a dog make ... Instead she is just creating another temporary fad in pet ownership ... " Pete wrote on Mar 20, 2006 9:35 AM: " I've been sewing butterfly wings to the backs of my cats for years and selling them as " kittyhawks " they have been outselling the my "rattlebats "3 to 1 and here I thought flying snakes would be a good seller ? " Mary wrote on Mar 20, 2006 9:46 AM: " Please folks, she is not messing with the gene pool as long as she does not have mama cats messing around with their sons. They are from the same species and that is why she is able to breed them. I used to have a stray cat that I said acted like a dog. Never thought about breeding it though, I had it spayed in the interst of not being part of the problem so to speak. The over abundance of cats and dogs is from not having enough of the strays spayed, not from breeders. " Jean wrote on Mar 20, 2006 11:21 AM: " I have checked into this and there is no such thing as a puppykat... To me she is in this for the money and just fooling a foolish public. " Jamie wrote on Mar 20, 2006 11:22 AM: " Please show me the dog this woman used in the breeding of this so called cat. " Mike wrote on Mar 20, 2006 12:30 PM: " Yes Jean, it's called a free market society. " duh people wrote on Mar 20, 2006 12:32 PM: " She is not breeding dogs and cats.. Just another selfish, irresponsible money-hungry breeder. We don't need another breeder creating a new CROSS BREED! Yes, Houston should should spend 2 days at a shelter that euthanizes. " Courtney wrote on Mar 20, 2006 1:24 PM: " This woman's scientific experiment is replacing spots in homes that animals in animal shelters need. If you want a real, natural cat - be a hero to a cat - not a kitten - and go rescue one from a shelter. " Alex wrote on Mar 20, 2006 3:11 PM: " I work for an animal shelter where we euthanize literally thousands of cats every year -- there are simply not enough homes for them. As the bumper sticker says, "Please don't breed or buy while shelter animals die". " David wrote on Mar 20, 2006 3:52 PM: " Very irresponsible. Breeders breed cats that could otherwise be obtained through a shelter. " Jan wrote on Mar 20, 2006 3:58 PM: " Our beautiful Pomeranian was killed by one of these cats, this was a vicious cat that jumped into our back yard and waited for our dog to go potty before we put her to bed. This big cat threw our little dog against the fence broke her back and ripped open her insides within the 15 seconds it took us to run to our back yard. My kids have been heart broken by the loss of our family dog; She died a violent death by some kind of freakish bread we referred to this cat as a Tom Cat but when I saw the picture in the newspaper I know it was one of these genetic misfits. How irresponsible and dangerous to let these cats loose in neighborhoods with small pets ...
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