PETA tells us in its usual subtle way to always adopt your pet, never buy from a breeder. (via Feyfriends)
One website that makes adopting as fun as online dating is Petfinder.com. It's like Manhunt except it's not about sex and the cuteness ratio is much higher. It's where we found our pweshus Anderson Pooper (pictured below)!
AKC-registered purebreeds are inbred by definition. It's a closed registry: once the standards are established and the original group is taken in, new blood cannot enter, only leave. Only direct descendants of the original group may be registered. The inbreeding has a tendency to cause health issues that differ by breed.
Sorry, but your argument is totally LAME. How many people out there do you know who are on-the-fence about adopting a kid or getting a pet? Besides which, they're not mutually exclusive.
The whole "there are people suffering in the world, why should I give a shit about animals' suffering" argument is tired, it's disingenuous, and its logic is fallacious. Getting a shelter animal instead of a purebred doesn't preclude adopting a child; choosing not to eat veal for ethical reasons doesn't lead to human starvation or poverty elsewhere. And to decide to show a certain measure of concern for the lives of animals is not the same thing as claiming animals' equality with humans. I'd drown a sack of ten kittens if it saved the life of a human child. But, unlike you, I wouldn't enjoy doing it.
Before we bought our puppy, we met with the breeder. We got to know how she did her job and we know we don't have an inbred dog.
It's a shame that animals die in shelters, but I'm not really worried about those animals. There are a ton of abused and neglected kids in foster care and child services that need a good home. What's more important? Those kids or those animals?
The problem with "getting a pure breed" is that usually that dog is not the thoroughbread you think he/she is. Most of those dogs are inbred, and more diseased with hereditary disorders than any dog in a shelter. If you must have a purebred dog, then you can also adopt through a rescue service.
Not to be too inflammatory, but to the guys talking about how mutts are yucky: EWW. You are icky.
Also, generally speaking mutts are healthier and live longer than overbred purebreeds.
If you are obsessed with a particular breed, the least you can do is try to find one through the hundreds of single-breed animal rescue groups out there.
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