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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.  |
From your reasoning, then, rescues as well as animals from breeders of any type, are bought. Any time monies changes hands there's a transaction, a purchase and a sale by definition. If I rescue a dog from a shelter, I don't get him free. I pay adoption fees, some refer to this as "a donation." etc. A breeder calls it a "price."
My saying that my furkids were adopted is not to get a chip thrill or a "warm fuzzy" feeling. I say adopted for 2 reasons:
1) That's how I feel them, since I did not give birth to them, yet I feel for them as if I had gone through labor for them.
2) When I say "I've adopted 2 furkids", my intention is to let the idiots around me know from the get-go that my Yorkies are to be treated as my children and not as objects.
My point was exactly what you say 'EDUCATION.' Never mind the scamers getting in on the action, that's inevitable, they will still pull at the heart strings to line their pockets.
But if we start to differentiate animals from objects, maybe things will start to change. And the way it starts is by leading through example. I never refer to my little ones as "it", that would send the wrong message and I would not have the right to get angry when someone treated my babies as "things" that don't feel and hurt.
I'm not trying to sugar coat anything, I have no need to. I am trying to make people aware that change does really begin with us, through our example, one person at a time.
I haven't rescued yet, or rehabilitated to be honest. But I do have a Paypal account where I give to shelters, help feed and clothe, and help pay for urgently needed surgeries for animals. I volunteer at my local shelter, I bring food, blankets, etc. I spend hours upon hours doing cross-postings on several media accounts like Facebook and Twitter to help animals all over the country.
I don't just give lip service, I actually do contribute any way that I can. I don't want a badge of honor, I don't want my 15 minutes of fame nor a pad on the shoulder. I sincerely could give a flying pepper about what people think. All I want is to help those that can't help themselves.
I realize is impossible for one person to really make a difference, and silly me, I thought all YTs would see my point, read my original post and actually comprehend what I wrote.
To those of you who did get it, even if you don't agree. I'm so glad.
For those of you who get it and want to be part of the solution, THAN YOU! from the bottom of my heart.
For those of you who went off in a tangent, what can I say?