while i would much rather support an animal shelter, sometimes that's not always in the best interest of the dog/cat. sometimes they choose US, not the other way around. sometimes we just need to help them- no matter where they are. love is love, regardless of where you find it. and rescue is rescue.
PLEASE do not SLAM me...
- Thread starter Sunshine
- Start date
I understand the idea behind rescuing a dog is rescuing a dog...And I won't even walk into a pet store that has puppies because I don't think I could leave without buying one...but here's the thing...
Buying a puppy from a pet store creates space for another puppy mill puppy. And so long as folks keep buying these pups, the horrible puppy millers keep selling them and treating these dogs just horribly.
Now, I am kind of dreaming here...but if no one bought dogs from pet stores...puppy mills would go out of business. Buying a dog from a pet store just keeps the whole awful thing going.
Conversely, rescuing a dog from a shelter makes more room for another dog that needs to be rescued (sometimes from puppy mills). There is no profit to be made in shelters...just keeping dogs safe and alive.
Buying a puppy from a pet store creates space for another puppy mill puppy. And so long as folks keep buying these pups, the horrible puppy millers keep selling them and treating these dogs just horribly.
Now, I am kind of dreaming here...but if no one bought dogs from pet stores...puppy mills would go out of business. Buying a dog from a pet store just keeps the whole awful thing going.
Conversely, rescuing a dog from a shelter makes more room for another dog that needs to be rescued (sometimes from puppy mills). There is no profit to be made in shelters...just keeping dogs safe and alive.
Well, when you "rescue" a pet from a pet store, you are only opening up a new spot for another dog to be put in that very same position.
Think about it this way... where would you rather see your money go? To a greedy person's pockets, who views animals as money and helps continue the overpopulation problem? Or should the money go to helping animal shelters operate and rescue animals that are in need? By purchasing animals from stores, it supports them and keeps them running. I'd rather keep a shelter open and running, myself.
Yes, love is love. My sister has two pet store dogs, and I adore them both and they are well loved. So are my rescues. It's not about that. "Rescuing" one from a pet store doesn't help animals in the long run, while rescuing from a shelter means opening up spots for more animals that are really in need. Know what I mean?
Think about it this way... where would you rather see your money go? To a greedy person's pockets, who views animals as money and helps continue the overpopulation problem? Or should the money go to helping animal shelters operate and rescue animals that are in need? By purchasing animals from stores, it supports them and keeps them running. I'd rather keep a shelter open and running, myself.
Yes, love is love. My sister has two pet store dogs, and I adore them both and they are well loved. So are my rescues. It's not about that. "Rescuing" one from a pet store doesn't help animals in the long run, while rescuing from a shelter means opening up spots for more animals that are really in need. Know what I mean?
Oh yeah, understand all point of view and find it all interesting for sure.
Im left thinking, I get the whole idea of not buying from a pet store as to prevent puppy mills from future business, for that to happen puppies are going to die in the process. I do not think ALL pet stores buy from puppy mills. I know that a few in my town actually take pets from the shelter into their stores and sell for a small fee and then donate the money to the shelter. I also think that the people that abuse the animals in whatever way that leads the poor animals to be in a shelter are just as bad as the puppy mill owenrs. I dont know...its really just one of those things that made me want to hear what others thought so keep it coming ladies!
Im left thinking, I get the whole idea of not buying from a pet store as to prevent puppy mills from future business, for that to happen puppies are going to die in the process. I do not think ALL pet stores buy from puppy mills. I know that a few in my town actually take pets from the shelter into their stores and sell for a small fee and then donate the money to the shelter. I also think that the people that abuse the animals in whatever way that leads the poor animals to be in a shelter are just as bad as the puppy mill owenrs. I dont know...its really just one of those things that made me want to hear what others thought so keep it coming ladies!
by buying a dog from a pet store, you are supporting those terrible breeders. you are paying them.
Sunshine -
I don't know the statistics on the numbers, but a good amount of pet stores get their pups from puppymills. They often have very nice names, like Shadygrove Breeders or something like that...but they are puppymills. And I'm not talking about pet stores that have dogs from rescues. Totally different ball game there. I have no problem with that.
And here's the thing...we have two dogs. One from a great breeder (an Ibizan hound), the other from a great rescue (a muttskie we like to call an Ibizan hound knockoff). Both the breeder and the rescue wanted to meet and interview us. They called references. They wanted to make sure that their animal was going to a good, stable home.
Before we got our Ibizan, We met his mother, saw where she lived, where she slept and how amazingly well taken care of she was. We talked to the breeder to make sure an Ibizan was a good fit for us. We talked about why she decided to breed Ibizans. We got tons of great information. If you are getting a purebred dog, that is info you definitely want to have an simply do not have access to if you get a dog from a pet store.
A pet store - well, they have no IDEA who is buying that dog and what they plan to do with it. If you've got the money, you've got the dog. It shows a real callousness towards the animals, in my view.
But I totally see your point. It is very easy in the abstract to say just stop buying puppies from pet stores...but it is totally different when you think about the fact that puppies might be euthenized if they aren't sold. I guess you have to weigh that against the dogs that are currently living in deplorable conditions in the puppymills and the future puppies that won't have to be subjected to it. I don't know. It is a tough call.
eta: and of course the folks that abuse animals are awful. But not all dogs at shelters are abused. Most often, dogs end up in shelters because their owners circumstances change. And unlike the puppymillers, the person that turns an animal into a shelter doesn't get paid money for it. So I disagree that they are not as bad.
I don't know the statistics on the numbers, but a good amount of pet stores get their pups from puppymills. They often have very nice names, like Shadygrove Breeders or something like that...but they are puppymills. And I'm not talking about pet stores that have dogs from rescues. Totally different ball game there. I have no problem with that.
And here's the thing...we have two dogs. One from a great breeder (an Ibizan hound), the other from a great rescue (a muttskie we like to call an Ibizan hound knockoff). Both the breeder and the rescue wanted to meet and interview us. They called references. They wanted to make sure that their animal was going to a good, stable home.
Before we got our Ibizan, We met his mother, saw where she lived, where she slept and how amazingly well taken care of she was. We talked to the breeder to make sure an Ibizan was a good fit for us. We talked about why she decided to breed Ibizans. We got tons of great information. If you are getting a purebred dog, that is info you definitely want to have an simply do not have access to if you get a dog from a pet store.
A pet store - well, they have no IDEA who is buying that dog and what they plan to do with it. If you've got the money, you've got the dog. It shows a real callousness towards the animals, in my view.
But I totally see your point. It is very easy in the abstract to say just stop buying puppies from pet stores...but it is totally different when you think about the fact that puppies might be euthenized if they aren't sold. I guess you have to weigh that against the dogs that are currently living in deplorable conditions in the puppymills and the future puppies that won't have to be subjected to it. I don't know. It is a tough call.
eta: and of course the folks that abuse animals are awful. But not all dogs at shelters are abused. Most often, dogs end up in shelters because their owners circumstances change. And unlike the puppymillers, the person that turns an animal into a shelter doesn't get paid money for it. So I disagree that they are not as bad.
Thanks.
And yeah, puppymills are seriously one of the worst things in the whole world.
It is just stomach turning and heart breaking - especially for people like us - who LOVE their dogs sooo much...Just makes me cry...awful awful stuff.
And yeah, puppymills are seriously one of the worst things in the whole world.
It is just stomach turning and heart breaking - especially for people like us - who LOVE their dogs sooo much...Just makes me cry...awful awful stuff.
Read away: http://www.google.com/search?q=puppy+mills
If you even get past the first link without crying and become outraged, I'd be surprised since you obviously love dogs.
Puppy mills are canine concentration camps, only worse. They all need to be shut down and their operators should rot in HELL or be put in a puppy mill themselves for eternity!
COMPLETELY agree!
As someone who has fostered quite a few puppymill rescues (and adopted two of them) I cannot bear to think about the unspeakable horrors experienced by the dogs used as "breeding slaves."
I have seen dogs come into rescue with knitting yarn and fishing line holding them together where the millers did a "c-section" without a vet or anesthesia.
I would like to think that there is a special place in hell for anyone that exploits and abuses animals.
I have seen dogs come into rescue with knitting yarn and fishing line holding them together where the millers did a "c-section" without a vet or anesthesia.
I would like to think that there is a special place in hell for anyone that exploits and abuses animals.
In my family, all our cats were rescued. My sister's cat was injured in a fall and then owners didn't want to pay the vet bills. My sister's cat had recently died, so she agreed to take the kitten and keep caring for it. She has a dog from a breeder, but she visited the facility and checked out the breeder before buying the dog. My cat was the kitten of a feral cat. It is so nice to think that I rescued my cat from a short, dangerous, and miserable life.