I think it is very important to remember that there are multiple definitions of any given term,
depending on the context.
In reference to the comments that a profession just means that you get paid for doing something, rather than doing it as a hobby, I would offer this comparison:
You visit a guy who opens his kitchen drawer, gets out an old box cutter, some kleenex, and a bottle of liquor. He pours you a drink, and you sit and sip for a moment. He then proceeds to slash a wart off your toe. You pay him $10 and leave.
Is he a professional?
In comparison, you could go to an office where a man in a white coat greets you. In his office is a diploma on his wall. He summons his assistant, who brings a tray of highly specialized, sterile surgical equipment into the room. You are given a shot of local anesthetic, and the man proceeds to slice the wart off your toe. Some stitches , a prescription note, and a followup appt later, you pay your bill and leave.
Is he a professional?
Are both not professional doctors, using the bare "makes money at it" definition? Both are paid, and rely on their work as the sole source of income.
Here is a short list of criterion from academia, used to determine a
professional in the context of business:
- Academic qualifications - a doctoral or law degree - i.e., university college/institute.
- Expert and specialised knowledge in field which one is practising professionally.[6]
- Excellent manual/practical and literary skills in relation to profession.[7]
- High quality work in (examples): creations, products, services, presentations, consultancy, primary/other research, administrative, marketing or other work endeavours.
- A high standard of professional ethics, behaviour and work activities while carrying out one's profession (as an employee, self-employed person, career, enterprise, business, company, or partnership/associate/colleague, etc).
- Reasonable work moral and motivation. Having interest and desire to do a job well as well as holding positive attitude towards the profession are important elements in attaining a high level of professionalism.[8}
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional :
note the references at the bottom of the page... this is in professional in the context of business.
A very good explanation of the concepts of
profession, professional, professionalism can be found here, from the State of Texas:
http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/tutorials/professionalism/prof.html
Based on the above references, I would conclude that it is indeed appropriate to suggest that someone can become a professional breeder, in the sense that they can fulfill all of these requirements...If so, they could use breeding as a sole source of income and still be considered a professional.
However, I feel it is imperative that
all breeders conduct themselves with
professionalism (fulfilling the requirements listed above).
My 2 pennies, any way
