People often talk about the joy of watching the miracle of birth of puppy dogs. This is particularly disturbing to us at MPR since we know that only 1 in 600 Pit Bulls born in this world will find a loving home. The great majority of Pit Bull dogs are either homeless, owned by uncaring and irresponsible individuals or sitting hopeless on deathrow at local animal control facilities.

The miracle of birth when it comes to Pit Bull pups, is more than often the first step towards homelessness, a life of abuse or death. Please remember about this if ever the thought of breeding your pit bull crosses your mind.

In addition, think about the toll a pregnancy takes on a female dog. MPR currently has several brave mothers in the program who are hoping with all their heart they will soon find someone to love.

During this Mother's Day Month, we want to bring attention to their plight and hope many loving families will open their heart to a mama dog in need.

Our Mama Dogs...

Baraka, has been waiting more than "TWO" years already. We have absolutely no idea why. She's one of the best dog in the program.

Harmony's multiple pregnancies have damaged her physically, but personality wise, she's just about as stable, as loving and as well behaved as a dog can be.

Caelyn was the innocent victim of dog fighting when she had her first litter. She was still a pup herself. All her scars are gone, mentally and physically.

Fiona was a breeding machine. She is keeping her chin up despite her difficulties in life. Isn't she a beauty?

Having Puppies.....

There is an unfactual belief that a female dog should have at least one litter before being spayed. There is absolutely no justification to that notion. In fact, the longer you wait before spaying a female, the greater the chances she will get cancer later in life.

A pregnancy is extremely hard on a female dog. MPR has rescued countless mama dogs who had given literally all they had to their pups and were on the brinks of death when discovered. It takes months for a female to recover from a pregnancy.

And for some, rescue comes too late... Weakened by her latest pregnancy, this sweet mama dog was not strong enough to survive a virus contracted during her stay at animal control facility. She had literally given all she had to her puppies..... They lived and were adopted into good homes.

The joy of motherhood...

And if you think you are doing the dog a favor by letting her experience the joy of motherhood, please think again.

Like humans, canines need a strong social structure to thrive and survive. In the wild, puppies stay under the protection of the pack and their parents until they are old enough to survive on their own. Only then, when the dogs are about a year old, some youngsters will leave the pack and move on, though many canines stay with their family for their entire life. No six, seven or height week old puppy is strong enough to survive on its own. The dogs know that. Pulling an 8 week old puppy from a mama dog is like expecting a 2 year old baby to move out of his parents home, get a job and find an apartment.

We are messing with nature when we remove puppies from their mother and siblings and place them in a home at 8 weeks old. Dogs do not understand that we will be there to care for them. In the puppy's mind, he or she will die away from his "canine family", hence why puppies scream bloody murder the first few nights we bring them home.

As for the mother, she has to witness her pups disappear one by one helplessly and has no clue what will happen to them. We cant explain to her that the pups have found a new home and everything is ok. She believes they are getting lost and dying. Think about the emotional stress this causes a loving mother...

We are doing dogs no favor by letting them have puppies... Only breaking their heart while trying to cash-in on their ordeal.

With Pet overpopulation causing more death than happy endings, and knowing that mama dogs suffer a great deal physically and emotionally when having and losing puppies, do we really need to add more puppies to this world so we can witness the miracle of birth? The miracle of birth when it comes to pets these days is simply a step towards euthanasia.

Please don't breed or buy while shelter pets die, Please Spay or Neuter your pet...... And please, please adopt a homeless Mama dog this month!

Still a pup herself, Caelyn and her puppies were confiscated from a dog fighting bust in Missouri last november.