I don't think many rescues buy dogs at auctions or from breeders. A few do and this seems to be a matter of controversy among rescue people. Most rescues from what I understand get their dogs for free from private homes/breeders or they pull dogs from shelters. Say they may pay $100 dollars for a dog that is up to date on vaccinations and already spayed/neutered, so all it need is a basic exam ($60). Then they adopt that dog out for $400. Most of the dogs they get (especially from the mills) require dentals, with lots of extractions, professional grooming, to remove matted coats, spay/neuter, treatment for various infections, heartworm treatments, other worming treatments, and the list goes on. Then there are those dogs with liver shunts/heart murmers/luxating patellas that require surgery that costs thousands of dollars. On the rare occasion they do turn a profit on a single dog, that money goes towards a dog that they lost hundreds, if not thousands, on.
As for justifying just rescuing a single breed, I don't see it as discrimination at all. Breed rescues know more about their breed's personality and health concerns. The are able to find the best homes for their breed, too. Rescues usually consist of a network of foster homes. They are able to keep dogs longer, housebreak and train them and evaluate them better. In addition to breed rescue, there are rescues that specialized in hard to place dogs, senior dogs, special needs dogs, etc. Many breed rescues also rescue mixes of their breed. Many also make exceptions in certain cases. If a yorkie grew up with a schnauzer and the dogs needed to be placed together, a yorkie rescue would probably take both. I have seen toy dog rescues, take in large dogs. It helps if you look at rescue in general as one big machine. Yorkie rescue may take in just Yorkies, but if they didn't, where would the Yorkies end up? Probably in the shelter taking up a kennel that would otherwise go to a large mutt. By pulling a purebred from a shelter, rescues are providing more time and room for mixes and hard to place dogs.
It works the same way with adoption. No matter where you adopt from, you create a slot for another dog that may have been PTS. You can save a dog directly from a high kill shelter or you can go to a no kill shelter/rescue. Either way you are creating a space for another dog. Ultimately increasing the chances of it getting adopted. |