I can't disagree with your position at all. But, remember, the OP is looking for a small breed that will be good with small children. Truth be told, I wouldn't even recommend a dachshund. The breed, particularly the males, are not always good with children.
So my recommendation to avoid the SPCA is specific to this situation, not a general condemnation of the SPCA. They do good work and they try hard, but it is impossible to find homes for all the dogs and cats they take in. This is why those of us in the dog world strongly support spaying and neutering those that will not be shown.
Sorry I was not clear enough previously.
The fact that the OP is specifically looking for a small dog is a good reason to clue him that about a dozen small breeds are typically not the best choice for children including the Dachshund as you correctly point out.
I agree with you...that large under-funded rural shelters are probably a tough place to choose a small breed dog, but many SPCA and city run (and funded) shelters have started to designate and design separate areas that are much more appropriate to house small dog breeds together comfortably so they can be shown in the best light when visitors come to interact with them.
So many small dogs have traditionally been under such stress being in a large mostly outdoor shelter environment that it has been hard to get them adopted because the dogs are not at all acting like they normally would in a better environment....thanks to all the small breed rescues for helping that situation.
Hopefully the majority of intelligent people worldwide are getting/heeding the message to spay/neuter their dogs.
I think a very strong fostering program should be developed at all shelters to try to help the dogs in trouble get back on track and to allow them to be shown to potential adopters in an environment that will show the dog well.
The Austin Animal Shelter will not adopt out a dog until it has been neutered, hopefully this is the case everywhere.
I think there should be much stricter requirements to be a licensed dog breeder and that people caught breeding dogs without the proper qualifications and conditions should be penalized heavily.
Until we really start making some major changes in the way we think about our responsibility toward the domestic dog in general, some of the problems we have will just not go away.
It is a sad situation to look at the massive amount of stray/feral/abandoned dog populations in most parts of the world.
While I agree it is impossible to find homes for all the dogs and cats that they take in, I do believe there is a lot of room for improvement in the way that we (as humans) do things, as it relates to domestic and wild animals.
