One Thing I'll Never Understand...

First of all, let me say that I have nothing whatsoever against people getting a dog from a reputable breeder. When I was looking for a little dog, I was getting a bit frustrated with our shelter and considered just giving up after the second dog I tried to adopt from them was stolen. Shelters are not perfect. Neither are rescues. And while I believe that rescuing a dog from our local high-kill shelter is the best way to go, I also firmly believe that you should only bring into your home the animal you want and that you will be happy with. And I do believe there are breeders who honestly care about their dogs and the puppies they are producing.

But one of my new grrs... I have talked too many otherwise good and intelligent people who say that the reason they absolutely must buy their dogs from a breeder is because "If it isn't purebred, you don't know what you're getting". First off, this is a living creature. While certain breeds have been cultivated for certain temperments, breed is not everything. Secondly, I've heard this from people who have ordered their dogs from Pennsylvania because it was $200 rather than $1,500. Pennsylvania, as I'm learning, is the puppymill cener of the US. Really, you are afraid you wouldn't know what you are getting from a mutt, but you think things will go awesome if you buy from a puppy mill?

http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/16041/MI/US/RSS/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CrueltyCaseTickerFeed+%28Pet-Abuse.Com+Updates+and+Cases%29&utm_content=FaceBook#UPDATES

So you want an australian shepherd but you don't want to pay the big bucks. That and you don't want to go to a shelter or deal with a rescue. So you order from this lady... The vet who handled the dogs said they were all feral. Makes me wonder what it is she sent to the families who bought from her. Did they know what they were getting?

Really, if you want to go with a good breeder, that's awesome. But don't dis the shelter dogs. :)