I'm having a real problem with these terms. I have a FB friend who has a friend who breeds dogs. I've been reading the posts on this breeder's page and today I just couldn't take it anymore. The breeder says, "I have a dog For Sale, he is..." The responders say things like, "So cute I want to buy IT..."
So I added, "Do you mean "for adoption"? For Sale sounds so cold and uncaring
Of course my posts were deleted after a couple of people jumped up and said things like, "some people are so anal, why would she post something like that" and "when people adopt kids or pets they pay a FEE."
I replied that it is all in how you put things. As a picture speaks a thousand words, so does a word paint a thousand pictures. I asked if they would advertise an adoption of a human child as "Child For Sale"? the poster's comment of "fee" proved my point. She didn't say "price." There's a difference and though she didn't realize it, she used the proper term for an adoption
There are fees, yes, and I get it. So why not say "dog for Adoption...the FEE is..."? And what about that "I want to buy IT." IT!!!!
My reasoning is this; what do you see in your mind when you hear the words "for sale"? And when you hear the words "for adoption"?
Two different things, don't you? You would buy a Coach bag, you wouldn't adopt it.
"For Sale" implies a THING---a purse, shoes, a car, etc. things that do not feel, breathe, hurt. A thing you can put in the garbage or in a closet and forget it. kick it, burn it, do with your t-h-i-n-g as you see fit.
Don't get me started on "it."
"For Adoption" says to me; responsibility, add a member to our family, dependent on me for protection, nourishment, shelter, warmth, care, love, attention and all the best my heart and my finances could handle.
The words we use shape our perception of life and everything in it. I can't help but think that maybe the words we use with respect to 'pets' is the link to animal abuse and cruelty. The more people see them as objects, as THINGS, the less people care about these furbabies suffering.
Have you noticed that in order to win customers, pet stores are using the word 'Adoption' and not 'Sale' and puppy-mills/backyard breeders are begining to use this term too...coincidence?
Hardly.
If you were shopping for a house and I told you that there's a beautiful house that exactly fits your criteria, it's large, has a huge backyard and it's in an up and coming neighborhood, which has an increased budget for revamping the area which in turn will attract new commerce.
What if I said, that there's a beautiful house that exactly fits your criteria, it's large with a huge backyard
But it has a higher than average crime rate, you have to get in your car and drive a few miles to find a store because merchants are not interested in investing in this area until they see real improvement in the sector. The police department is trying their best and we're all hopeful that the increased budget will allow the hiring of more police.
Based on the description of these two houses, which house would you give a chance to? They're both the same house but you got different messages because I painted two different pictures. Words do say so much
I don't know...but when I hear words like "Dog For sale" and "IT is cute", the message/picture I get is,
"they're JUST dogs, who cares about their torture...it's just like the abuse my shoes get" 