I think that people are completely confusing what other people are saying.
I don't buy from pet stores that sell puppies for profit. My reasoning is that these puppies come from mills, which I do not want to support, so those stores will remain in business because of the profits from their puppies & also all supplies they sell. BTW, people who but from pet stores waste money IMO because you pay double or more for a dog in which came from a puppy mill with no testing for health, no care to temprement, no breeder responsibility, etc.
That being said, I think aniaml shelters are a wonderful place & have had several dogs from shelters throughout my lifetime. In fact, Dallas is the first pure bred I have ever had. We only went with a pure bred vs. adopting a mutt because we wanted specific qualities associated with a basenji, mainly due to Mark's allergies. Supporting an adoption service is supporting helping out homeless animals. Those animals did not necessarily come from a pet store. They could come from a long line of strays, a pet store, a breeder that for some reason or another the family didn't contact before turning it over to the shelter, etc. So supporting a shelter does not mean you are supporting a puppy mill, which is exactly the opposite of pet stores which sell puppies for profit. For every puppy purchased in a pet store, that is one more litter that a poor abused, starving dog will be forced to have in disgusting living conditions. Without selling those puppies or supplies from these type of stores, they lose business & ultimately [hopefully] go out of business thus eliminating one more place for puppy mills to send their pups.
Also, heather, it isn't that puppy mill puppies shouldn't be bought because of health [although that is many invidiausl reasoning] but it's because of the living conditions these poor animals [the sire & dam] are put through to have their puppies. They are money makers, plain & simple. I don't think any human being would want to be put through that treatment so why should we put man's best friend?