I support and help out our local golden retriever rescue. And I don’t even qualify (on paper) to adopt a golden from them because I don’t have a fenced yard. I have told the president, who is a friend of mine, how silly that really is, since what it means is that my dog always goes outside accompanied by me and is never left alone out there. But they are one of the more reasonable organizations I’ve known.
The problem is that some of these groups are run by people who are fanatics, and some are quite reasonable people who just care about animals. Some of them probably started our reasonable and became fanatics after dealing with bad situations. And some of them think people like me (hobby breeders) are the enemy. Heck, some FReepers think I’m the enemy.
But, something has happened in our society and many people cannot draw a line between pets and people, and this is what you get. It can be almost as difficult to get a pet as it is to adopt a baby, and some places are passing laws that also blur the line.
My Golden lasted to 13yo. He was an awesome dog. We had him fixed as a puppy but regretted it later as he grew into one of the most handsome Goldens I'd ever seen. Downsized dogs now - Papillons. Even the adults are like having toddlers around :-) But I wouldn't trade 'em for anything.
I have a relative that is a "hobby breeder". She's very good at it and has sold some of her Samoyeds as far away as Finland. In 10 years she's probably only had three or four litters from eight dogs.