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Originally Posted by KimInMD  This topic upsets me so much. On several occasions, when I tell people I do dog rescue, they will say to me "i rescued my dog from a petstore, or I adopted my dog from this nice lady down the street who raises (fill in the breed name). I just have to bite my tongue. Let's call an ace an ace! Put any rosy spin on it you want, the cold hard truth is when you whip out your card or checkbook at the petstore, you are not "adopting" that dog, you are BUYING a dog for money. You shouldn't feel warm and fuzzy because you "adopted" that little puppy to get him out of a bad situation, or because he looked sad. No, when you paid for that puppy, you sentenced his mother to another forced breeding, and a life of misery, abuse and neglect. Words do have power, and sugar coating the painful, ugly truth does nothing to help the poor animals still stuck in the mills. The non-profits, the people in the trenches RESCUE, rehabilitate, REHOME, and place for ADOPTION. Those words are badges of honor, and I resent anyone or any store who thinks they have the right to use them to twist and desensitize the public with warm, fuzzy feelings to further line their pockets. If you bought the dog, then say it. If it's uncomfortable to say, then ask yourself why? Having people say they "adopted" their purchased dog will do absolutely nothing to change the perspective of someone who abuses or neglects his pets. Laws, enforcement, and non sugar coated public education are the only weapons we have to fight against animal cruelty. Ok- I'm stepping off my soap box now, and going home before the fur starts to fly.  |
I begged a drug dealer's girlfriend to let me take home the 3.5 lb emaciated dog (her healthy weight is 5.5-6) she had in her back yard with 3 large dogs home. I threatened to call AC and she wasn't phased. I whipped out my checkbook and spent $500 on a dog that had a URI so bad the vet said she might not make it through the night. She was a year and a half old.
I say I rescued her, had to whip my checkbook out to do it, but not at a pet store.
If it were at a pet store, I would have called AC, but this dog who could barely walk and didn't know me from Eve was trying to pick her little head up and kiss me.
I still feel awkward saying I rescued her, because you could really see it either way, but I know that if I walked away, she would have died within a few days. I knew that if she did go to a shelter they'd deem her too unhealthy to try to save.
And call it what you want it, that's how Tashi began to own me
