Personally I get my kitty "people" at the kitty jail (or they show up at the back door and adopt me).  Perhaps mixed breds have a hardier and more balanced genetic make up.  Have seen dogs and cats that have been so inbred it's sad, and this is often the case of greedy humans trying to make a buck.

Kitty jail. :  I like that.  I'm also very familiar with the cat showing up and adopting me; which is how I wound up with a kitty with little buns in the oven!

I do think distinct breeds have a place in this world.  For example, someone who lives in a small apartment but still wants a dog probably needs to at least know the puppy they adopt will always be small.  Not like my experience, where I went to the doggie jail to pick up a puppy I thought would grow to be no larger than 30 pounds.  Now that he's a strapping 65 pounds I laugh at that. 

Blue:  that is an absolutely beautiful dog!  It has very similar markings as mine, but my dog has short hair and is sleek like a doberman.  Similar color patterns, though.

as eagle's basically said, its not the outward physical mateiral (which will alwyas eventaully decay in this universe...) appearance that should truely matters, it is the inner character that does (of all creatures).

Mongrels (non pedigree) have always been my choice. They are almost always loving, passionate creatures.

Here is Doggie me...  http://www.box.net/public/1dndfx0s69

Personally I get my kitty "people" at the kitty jail (or they show up at the back door and adopt me).  Perhaps mixed breds have a hardier and more balanced genetic make up.  Have seen dogs and cats that have been so inbred it's sad, and this is often the case of greedy humans trying to make a buck.

I'm the proud owner of nothing but mongrels myself, and I like it that way!

But it makes you wonder what the agenda is here, doesn't it?  Is it just the old patriarchal idea that everything must be under complete control?

One more thing-- with all the complaining people do about animal overpopulation, no one ever points a finger at the breeders.  I guess if you're doing something just for money you're A-OK no matter what problems it causes.

People saying that only pedigreed and licenced animals should be "allowed" to mate IS Nazi-esque. 

There's the genetic problems as you noted, but also, something about animals reproducing under artificially manipulated and restricted means has to have an effect on something with the resulting offspring.  You know, versus random strays behaving as animals in the wild were intended to behave, creating offspring that have that "real" feel to them I was mentioning.

Background:  I think the female cat I recently took in may be pregnant.  In researching "how to tell" on the web, I came across several sites giving warnings that only pedigreed, licensed cats and dogs should be "allowed" to breed.  Now, I know I've heard and read this many times before, but it just sticks in my craw.

I know we're never probably going to get to the point where everyone spays and neuters and there are no surprise litters.  But what if we did, and only pedigree animals were allowed to be born?  Is it just me, or does this entire concept sound Nazi-esque? 

In my opinion, it's not only elitist, but damaging as well.  I know for a fact that pure-bred animals suffer from more genetic diseases than mixed breeds do, just as people would if they were inbred.

Where do these animal organizations get the nerve to insinuate that only pure bred animals are good enough to exist- that all mixed breeds are inferior?  Even if they think this privately, why doesn't anyone in the animal community stand up and say this is a stupid, bigoted idea?

Or-- is it just me being oversensitive?

Just so everyone knows, I'm all for people taking responsibility for their animals and making sure we don't have so many of them being killed because they're unwanted.  I'm not disputing the general spay/ neuter program.