asking out of genuine curiosity: whatâs the problem with âadopt donât shopâ? (implied but not explained in a post you reblogged)
When itâs applied to mill breeders and pet shops, Iâm in complete agreement with it. If I remember right, thatâs what it was originally MEANT to apply to. Then it became co-opted by Animal Rights Activists, who are generally against pet ownership completely. It became a blanket statement against breeders of any sort, vilifying responsible and ethical breeders and those who purchase from them.
So, four years ago, I started looking for a prospective service dog. It was natural for me to start my search within rescues, because most of them were known to me already. I look like a pretty good applicant: I work in rescues, I specialize in handling animals with difficult temperaments, I have vet records stretching back to when I came of age (basically, Iâve been fully responsible for my catsâ vet care since I was 18), and all of my animals have either died of old age or random chance (Iâve never rehomed any of my personal animals for any reason, including health issues).
But it turned out to be borderline impossible.
The fact that I was looking for a service dog prospect was an immediate disqualification for most of them. This is because a lot of dogs (especially rescue dogs) wash out of training and canât go on to become fully trained service dogs. Since most disabled people can only afford one or two dogs, most of these dogs are returned to the shelter/rescue. That knocked out about 60% of the rescues I was looking at.
Another rescue asked for an âapplication feeâ, which smacks of a scam to me. It was around 40 dollars, but still. Thatâs a shitty fucking thing to do. :/
Another priced their dogs around 800 dollars, which is on the low end range for popular purebred dogs from pet-quality breeders. There was no way I was going to pay 800 dollars for a dog with an unknown genetic background and no health testing if I could pay the same thing and get a dog WITH all that.
Another asked me to take pictures of my fenced in yard, including the gate and ALL the fencing. My land is 22 acres. While it IS fully fenced, many of the fences are inaccessible to me because theyâre on cliffs. There was no way I could physically get all the pictures.
Most require that you own a house. I rent.
Another rescue had a sneaky little addendum in their policy, stating that they can visit my home at ANY TIME without permission or knowledge and take the dog back within two weeks of adopting it. This place also had a very high adoption fee (around 500 dollars). I donât remember the exact wording, but it was something along the lines of, âYouâre not ADOPTING this dog. This is a temporary foster for two weeks, and the adoption fee is non-refundable if we take the dog back within those two weeks, which we may do so at any time for any reason without your knowledge or permission.â
I was feeling pretty good about the next rescue, until it came out that my pet reptiles are all intact. Like⊠theyâre non-breeding. But the fact that they werenât spayed or neutered was enough, apparently, and I was denied. âCome back when theyâve been fixed,â I was told. The fact that theyâre reptiles, housed separately, and literally have never made contact with each other was deemed irrelevant, as was the fact that attempting to alter a 50 gram gecko would likely kill her. It was the LOOK of things that was important, rather than the actual animal welfare.
The local poodle rescue had a waiting list of approximately 5 years.
There was no way I was going to wait that long. So I started looking at shelters. There are three in my travel radius (did I mention that, as a disabled person, my travel radius is quite small? Because it is). One was immediately knocked out because it has a long history of transphobia against me in particular. One was knocked out because it was going through a panleuk issue at the moment, so I wasnât going to risk bringing it home or to work. The third was almost completely bully breed mixes, chihuahuas, or huskies (which are all fine breeds, but not compatible with my lifestyle).
Another issue with âadopt donât shopâ is that it implies ALL rescues/shelters are equal. They arenât. Iâve also encountered some extremely unethical rescues who outright lie to adopters about an animalsâ temperament or health. Iâve seen rescues who actively purchase puppies from mill auctions, because demand for ârescue purebreedsâ is so high. This is especially common with cavalier spaniels and other in-demand small breeds.
I recently cut ties with a cat rescue who actively refused to report a bad breeder for animal abuse/neglectâ-this breeder was mass-producing cats and not socializing them or treating them for heavy health issues. Every few months, theyâd turn over whatever they couldnât sell to the rescue and these cats were inevitably poorly socialized messes who couldnât even be touched (and these were cats who required a high amount of grooming). The rescue didnât want to turn the breeder in because these cats were in high demand; they were 100% sure guaranteed adoptions. People didnât care that they werenât healthy animals; they just wanted something pretty with a sob story.
Not every breeder is responsible. Not every rescue is responsible either. The saying SHOULD be âadopt responsibly, shop responsiblyâ. On a purely pedantic note, you SHOULD be shopping responsibly regardless, because adopting is also shopping. You shouldnât adopt the first cute animal with a sad backstory. You need to look into everything and make sure theyâre the right fit for you and your life.
I fully support rescues. But I also support breeding. My goal as a rescue worker is to create a world where every animal is born with a home already waiting for them and the shelters are empty. For that, we need breeders to keep producing healthy animals.
Basically, donât vilify people who buy from responsible, ethical breeders. We have our reasons for doing so.
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