[magsy17]

Originally Posted by andibaby

Jen-I am not rebutting you in any way to upset you. I know that you have left auctions with the struggle of leaving some behind. I am just simply asking "what is the difference?". The pet store became a middle man between the mill/broker and the public. That baby was purchased for a profit. The difference I think may be good intentioned-and profit not being the issue-who is the real winner in the end. The one who's pockets were lined or babies were gotten rid of to make room for more profit making dogs. I understand that my views may not be appreciated by all or even popular. But being an animal lover, I have alot of conflict. Maybe I overanalyze things some. How do you keep the BIG EVIL machine from getting bigger if you are helping it along. Even in a small way.

In my opinion and on the many dog forums that I'm a member of the majority are owner surrenders or rescues that are taken from shelters. My last rescue was taken to a vet to be put down by the puppymill owner. The vet called the rescue that I got him from to tell them they had a surrendered Maltese to come look at him because she the vet didn't see anything wrong with the pup. They took in KCee. He has an overbite and not the perfect Malt tail and had trouble learning to walk since the first year of his life he was in a cage with no human interaction. They spent money on getting him neutered, a dental and up to date on shots. I adopted him for $350 or $450 I don't remember off the top of my head. I flew to pick him up so the transport fee that they were going to spend on him was deducted from my adoption fee. I think there is a BIG difference from saving a puppy that is going to be put down for any reason be it not up to breed standard or a retired puppymill baby making machine and buying a cute puppy from a pet store even though they BOTH came from the same disgusting product a puppymill.

Real responsible rescue organizations spay/neuter the dog, get the dog healthy up to date with shots and any surgeries needed prior to adopting them out to screened families. Also what is not known that many of these dogs are returned to the rescue if they come with socialization issues so the whole process starts all over. I have tremendous respect for respectable rescue organizations. I recently went to my local kill shelter to look at a Maltese that was found to pull him for a rescue. The dog that I found was matted, crusty eyes and had kennel cough, extrememly scared and timid but in the eyes of the shelter he was good to go and ready for $60 adoption.

Also I wanted to clarify on the word "breeder". You have responsible breeders that do their research on their breed and breed to breed standards and research their lines. These are usually show breeders and breed to further their lines. Those breeders adopt out their retireed females usually at the cost of a dental and a spay/neuter. Unlike these "breeders" (puppmills/backyard breeders) that are just there to breed their dogs to make a dollar.