Delisay, I enjoyed your post. I always like to hear the different opinions and thought trains of other folks when it comes to breeding animals. As someone who has been breeding animals (not always dogs) her entire life, I can say that animal breeders, regardless of the quality of animals they raise recieve some of the highest praise and harshest criticism from people who have never been in their shoes and do not understand the dynamic of what they are doing. Take inbreeding for example - many breeds and "great" bloodlines were, indeed, inbred to "guarantee" the trait that makes them SO "great". With that said, I don't condone the breeding of genetic flaws and diseases for cosmetic purposes or otherwise superficial purposes, but where do you draw the line? (I am thinking of HYPP in horses)
Am I anti-mutt? No.. I am a bit of a purebred snob, I will admit, but what bothers me far more than the intermingling of breeds is the care and thought that goes into them from the person responsible for the well being of the dogs being bred. There is a difference between having an unspayed bitch get loose and pregnant and finding homes for all of the pups vs dropping the boxfull of them off at the shelter doorstep.
Maybe it's not so much irresponsibility, but the responsibility for the actions - as someone said, animals breed based on instinct, not on romance, and more often than not, they breed as a result of an action of the owners - be it failure to spay/neuter, exposure to an animal of the opposite sex. Rather than being condescending and putting so much effort into admonishing the "backyard breeder" (Oh how I despise and loathe that term!), maybe we should be praising those who take responsibility, and step up to the plate when these "accidents" happen.
Those who are stupid, just are, unfortunately. There's nothing to be done about that. You can preach all you want at them, but if someone earnestly believes in what they are doing (the way that we who discourage irresponsible breeding, or try to! do), there is little you can do to dissuade them. You cannot educate those who believe they already are educated.