The Dark Layers Behind These Choices (Cognitive Dissonance and Profit)
SERIES
PART I: The First Cracks: Illusions and Convenience in Breeders’ Decision Making
PART II: The Dark Layers Behind These Choices (Cognitive Dissonance and Profit) – this article
PART III: When It’s No Longer a Mistake (Value Alignment and Indifference)
The first part examined illusions and convenience. Here, the issue isn’t perception anymore — it’s the inner excuses breeders create and the conscious profit they choose to take.
3. Those Who Are Fighting Themselves
“Maybe it won’t be that bad.”
“They look great from the outside.”
“Others have sold there too…”
This is pure cognitive dissonance — the mind will invent anything to avoid facing reality.
The breeder doesn’t feel like someone who failed.
4. Those Who Don’t Want to See the Problem Because They Profit From It
This is where psychology ends and character begins.
Some breeders know exactly where they’re sending that puppy:
• they know how many litters these high‑volume operations produce,
• they know how many dogs are kept there,
• they know the animals are treated as economic units,
• they know that once the puppy is sold, they lose any control over its fate.
And they still do it.
Not because they were deceived.
But because convenience and money outrun principles.
Additional Perspectives:
C) The “Distance” Effect — When You No Longer See the Puppy’s Face
Some breeders are so accustomed to producing frequent litters that their emotional sensitivity dulls. The puppy becomes an “output” rather than a living being.
D) A Reduced Sense of Responsibility Toward Large‑Scale Operations
High‑volume facilities often project an aura of “professionalism,” which misleads breeders into thinking: “They’ll handle it better than an ordinary owner.”
That’s precisely when the last warning light shuts off.