@hdolbow:
so what happens when the dogs that are bought at a pet store are taken to shelters because they cant be taken care of and are re-homed because they are homeless? regardless those dogs are going to be adopted out again.
The cycle doesn't end because like it was posted before, the dogs either get sold for really cheap, or sent back to the breeder to be sold somewhere else or used to continue the problem. I dont understand how not buying from pet stores solves this problem at all. Especially with the internet and all of the sites to buy dogs on it.
To say dont buy a dog except from a breeder who does all kinds of testing is crazy. Not everyone can afford that. That's like saying if you cant afford to buy from a breeder you shouldn't have a dog. Beings that "responsible" breeders will take back a dog if there are ANY problems.. why are there so many dogs in shelters? adopting dogs, then, seems to be supporting mills.. at least thats how it sounds.
BRAT fosters out B's that were once pet store dogs. Does that mean that they are supporting mills?
First of all any dog that is adopted from a rescue or shelter is not supporting the mill that produced the dog. The miller has already gotten their money for that dog or even better didn't make any money from that dog because they couldn't place it and will be less likely to breed another litter. Every time a for profit breeder makes a profit for the sale of an animal irregardless of the reason it will only encourage more breeding for profit.
The statement that asking that anyone who is going to add a dog to their family to do so by either 1. Buying from a responsible breeder or 2. Adopting from a rescue or shelter, is not crazy. A responsibly bred purebred is often less than half the price of a pet store puppy and the long term savings from the additional support and the lower risk of long term expensive inherited disorders is a significant benefit for buying from a responsible breeder. It is also important to stress if you can not afford the purchase price of a responsibly bred dog then you may be in trouble should your dog require any medical care and I think we have all shared enough stories to know that the likelihood that you will find you need emergency vet care at least once in the lifetime of your dog is pretty high. Rescue offers a lower cost option with the trade off of not knowing the background of your dog but if you bought from for profit breeder you would have little usable information on the background of your dog anyways so this way you are not supporting a cycle of irresponsibility.