I can't own rescued game chickens, for PRACTICAL reasons. First, there are no (that I know of) rescued game chickens *available* around here -- there is some illegal cockfighting but when the birds are found and confiscated (which is rare) they are not available for adoption, and in any case, for practical reasons I *require* chickens that can be kept in large groups and are safe with each other and my small children.
If I could have obtained my original chickens as someone's healthy surplus, I would have. It just wasn't an option. Also, my chickens are more livestock than pets -- most of them will get eaten when they are done the productive part of their life. I would rather eat home-raised chicken than factory-farmed chicken, so I think it is BETTER for me to be breeding/raising my own than buying from a supermarket.
It is no different then owning pure bred chickens, pure bred horses, or goats. Ppl get dwarf goats because they want a small goat. Ppl buy silkies because they want the soft feathers and good broodies. Ppl buy little poodles for their allergies and as a companion. I bought a pug puppy for my daughter because I wanted a small good tempered dog. I did not go to the shelter because the majority of what is in the shelter are large chow, pit and lab crosses.
Yes, not ALL shelter dogs are appropriate for you, but there are PLENTY of small breed good tempered dogs still at shelters looking for homes.
If there were *zero* out there -- if and when the number of people looking to adopt homeless dogs of <whatever practical type> far exceeds the supply of homeless <that type dogs> in shelters/rescues -- then, as I say, fine, breed away.
We are certainly not near that situation now, nor do I expect it to happen within my or my kids' lifetimes.
Note that there is a difference IMHO between saying "we want a small fluffy friendly dog" (in general) versus "we want this one particular breed and it has to be *just exactly* that and no different". That is just indulging whims, and not in my opinion nearly as important as giving a generally-suitable dog a home even if it is not the exact shape or color or ear-set you originally had in mind.
For any to say that I caused the death of a dog because of I purchased a pug puppy is absurd. That is like saying that everyone here who purchased sexed pullets as chicks caused the death of all the male chicks because you only bought hens and not all the roosters.
Huh?? It is physically impossible to hatch female chicks without also hatching a similar number of male chicks.
It is NOT impossible to acquire a pug, or many-characteristics-similar-to-a-pug, dog from a shelter or rescue.
(Plus it is not like there is only one particular breed a person can like, or that it has to be a Breed rather than a mix... so it is not like you're restricted to HAVE to have a pug specifically)
By buying a "bred" dog rather than an existing one going to be euthanized, one already-existing dog WAS euthanized -- one that you could have taken home and loved.
Sorry to put it so bluntly, but, you know, that's just the way it IS.
(edited to add: this is not directed at the poster to whom I'm replying specifically, of course -- I mean it in *general*. I am just so sick of hearing this kind of active denial of reality. It would be refreshing to hear someone say "you know what, it just IS more important for me to indulge my tastes and whims than to help give a dog a home, I mean you know they're just dogs they're not PEOPLE, they're euthanized reasonably humanely in most cases, so why should I care, I don't have to watch. I want a <particular purebred look> and this is America and I don't see why I shouldn't be able to buy what I want". I would at least respect the HONESTY of that type of reply)
Pat
