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Originally Posted by QuickSilver  You shouldn't go to a rescue to get a "good deal", though usually the dogs are cheaper. You should go to a rescue to get a dog that has already been abandoned once and needs a good home.
That being said, you have to research the rescue just like you would a breeder. Some rescues are really fronts, as we've discussed. Perhaps more sadly, some rescues simply lose their way, and turn into mill brokers after a while. Personally, I would not work with a rescue that regularly buys at auctions. This puts money in the hands of puppy mills. Yes, it is often less than the mill would make on a full-price dog, but that's like saying that if you buy a dog that's been marked down in a pet store, you've "rescued" it. I believe it perverts the entire idea of rescue. |
I agree with most everything you have said here. I don't believe that a rescue should buy at an auction. I know several that go to the auctions and bid and bid several hundreds of dollars on dogs who they then have to place with ridiculously high prices. The rescue I worked with to get CoCo, has a 'relationship' or moreso an agreement with the Amish mills near her. She hates them but knows that something has to be done to get these dogs out. She goes and frequently visits the dogs and knows their stories. CoCo and her sister were too small to deliver. So when they were pregnant with the second pups and she knew the Mill was going to have to C-section them, she said she would take them. She was forced to pay a marginal fee for the 2 dogs and the litters. But got them c-sectioned/spayed etc. and took 7-8 Yorkies out of the Mill as a result. If people would stop bringing little Johnny to the pet store and bringing home a 'cute little puppy' on a whim then the Mills would not even be in existence.