The truth about most dogs lives.

[Jess N Jeff]

My dogs and cats were "through away" pets. Pets that someone just tossed because they no longer served their purpose. I took them in and all of them have been wonderful. I love them all from the bottom to the tip top of my heart. I would go homeless and starve before I would ever take any of my animals to a shelter.

My step mom worked at a "no kill" shelter...no kill my butt. She would come home crying because of what she saw there. So sad.

 

[Patchesnposies]

All 8 of our dogs are rescue dogs. All have been spayed or neutered. Our "head dog", an Anatolian Shepherd, who had the audacity to grow up to be a (gasp) large dog, and is named Zosia. (Someone should have read up on the breed.) Zosia believes and acts as if her sole purpose in life is to keep her family safe (her family is anything that breathes on HER property!) . But, mostly she lives to be near me.

Each of our dogs has a story that would make you cry, and I feel so blessed to have each one of them.

 

[Crazyland]

The reason it was flagged is because it is SPAM. It has been posted over and over again. Whoever posted it on your CL is not the original writer and who knows if the person writing it actually worked in a shelter.

There is a difference between a good breeder and a money monger, backyard breeder. There is also a difference in a responsible pet owner and one who should never own an animal in their lifetime.

When you start a search for a new animal you have to think about why you want it. If you want to get into confirmation shows you certainly can't get a dog from a shelter, but if you wanted a lapdog that doesn't do anything then the best place to look is a shelter.

 

[RabbitMage]

Quote:
There is absolutely a place for well thought out breeding, and a place for a person to buy from a breeder. But for most people who are just after a loving household pet, you'll find that there's probably a shelter dog to fit the bill!

 

[CakeOil]

When we adopted Wallace, we had the whole home visit thing. I didn't care too much for that but I can understand why it happens. When I worked at the shelter we had a pit bull, Patriot, who was just a sweet dog. Many people would call the shelter and asked if we had any pit bulls before asking anything else. The answer was always no, as we knew for what these folks wanted him. Some would come in and say they wanted to adopt him. But finally, the family who did, after him spending over 2 years in the shelter, visited him over a period of months so it could be determined that they wanted him as a pet. I walked him many times, and boy, was he strong and kind and deserved a loving family. We were all very happy to get picture updates from his family. Now, I realize his breed made him a target for unscrupulous folks, so I understand the reason for the screening process. Asking for your income and other personal information is not right, though.

 

[joebryant]

Quote:

There is no way that a thirteen-year-old wrote this.

 

[matthewschickens]

Quote:

There is no way that a thirteen-year-old wrote this.

He must of copied it... Or gotten help...

 

[welsummerchicks]

I understand how terrible the problem is, and I actually thought many more than 11 million dogs a year are put down at shelters. I've worked at rescues, rescued dogs, and done a lot of free helping of owners who have problems with their dogs, in hopes that it would help them keep and get along with their dog.

Even so....I'm not going to agree 100%. For a couple reasons.

One is that to support rescue organizations, you don't have to adopt a dog. You can volunteer time, resources or supplies to them. You can put on a demonstration with your dog at a fund raiser. You can give donations of money. You can do so many things.

One reason is, that there are a ton of totally volunteer organizations, non shelter based, in the US that ALSO rehome purebred dogs. MANY of these are aided greatly by breeders, and breeders quite often take dogs that are in trouble and rehome them themselves. High dollar kennel dogs are just as at risk for getting into the pipeline as mongrel dogs or poorly bred purebreds - people die, move(and yes, actually, a great many people these days are getting foreclosed out of their homes, and have to move into apartments that don't allow pets, or with relatives where they are already imposing and don't want to further), get divorced, die, etc. These organizations do fantastic work, and so do the breeders that aid them. They educate the adopters about the breed, they volunteer to retrain the dogs, they give a great deal of effort to the cause of helping dogs.

Purebred dogs are not necessarily 'bad' or less in need of help than other sorts of dogs. And purebred breeders aren't necessarily out of the loop in dog rescue - in fact, many are very MUCH in the loop. Supporting them ALSO means supporting dog rehoming and education.

Another is, I feel that buying a dog from a REPUTABLE, non-puppy mill breeder is fine in and of itself, for those who can afford it and are prepared to take care of the dog properly and be responsible. They may want or need a dog more likely to have certain characteristics - such as a guard dog or a herding dog, or a working dog to protect their autistic child, or things like that. They may need a hypoallergenic dog or one that will mature to a small size, for say, a fragile elderly person. There is a usefulness and a place for purebred dogs, and for buying them.

That said, there are lots of problems in the purebred dog market. There are puppy mills and irresponsible breeders and sellers of purebred dogs, right on up to the national champion level.

Neither money nor the lack of it will make a dishonest man honest - they tend to just stay dishonest, and they exist everywhere, in all segments of the pet market. But that doesn't mean I am going to shout out to every person to boycott all purebred dog purchases.

For some, it is the right choice. I'd certainly encourage everyone to consider rescuing a dog when they can.

For example, someone who wants to lure course, might be able to do that with a rescued greyhound (no, not all can lure course - the courses are open and unfenced...). Perhaps a person who needs a guard dog could rescue a dog that looks like it's part Rottweiler or German Shepherd. Someone who wants to do flyball might be able to do that with any agile, quick, high energy dog. Someone looking for a herding dog might find a border collie cross.

But I don't think adopting from shelters is what everyone must always do.

And, it really bothers me that a young person is so down on herself and berating herself for 'killing two dogs' when she acted with the best intentions as a child, it bothers me immensely one would write a piece like the above.

There are so many places other than shelters to get dogs. A neighbor might have a nice pup from an unexpected litter, or a college friend might need to find a new home for his pet when he leaves school. A service man might have to leave his pet behind when he goes abroad, or an elderly relative may pass away leaving his pets.

We've gotten pets most of the possible ways - from shelters, found running loose on a farm, relative passed away, left in a garbage can down the street (kitten)...and bought from purebred dog breeders. And most of those purebred dog breeders were rehoming and rescuing dogs themselves! I WILL support breeders like that!

 

[arabianequine]

Quote:
It is not legal to kill off dogs in this country. If you get caught you will be in a world of trouble. A vet should not if he has any ethical morals kill off an animal just cause you want him too instead of it going to a shelter and again not legal to kill cats and dogs yourself no matter how you do it.

 

[bock]

Quote:

There is no way that a thirteen-year-old wrote this.

He must of copied it... Or gotten help...

I didn't write this, someone posted this on craigslist who works at a shelter. I just spread the word like she asked us to at the bottom of the page. Sorry if I wasn't clear on that, I will edit it.