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Santa says: Adopt, Don't Buy
Last week, my neighbor stopped by with a seven-week-old baby pug. A gift for her daughter, the squirmy, velvet bundle with the smushy face was irresistible. But I got that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, when she told me she bought him at a pet store. She’s a wonderful person and a loving mother with one rescued pug already at home.
I sometimes take for granted that folks in my circle know better. It was a reminder that an awareness of the awful realities of the puppy mills-pet stores complex is not as widespread as I thought.
I know I’m preaching to the choir on a Bark blog, but it lit a fire in my belly—especially during this season of ill-advised pet giving. In anticipation of Christmas, Last Chance for Animals has launched a full-court press to push adoption over purchase (if you must give an animal at all), and to encourage activism and outreach. In addition, Last Chance will protest puppy mills outside a Beverly Hills pet store on December 22. (By the way, earlier this week, The New York Times reported on the bust of a Bel-Air pet store—complete with a Paris Hilton cameo—for selling puppies from unlicensed pet mills.)
Lisa Wogan
December 15, 2007 in Humane | Permalink
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I absolutely agree on not purchasing dogs from pet stores. We have to get a grasp on selling and making money on live animals in general. I can't help but remember what the apes did to humans in Planet of the Apes. LOL. We sometimes forget that they have lives and selling them would be almost similar to prostitution.
Thanks for this post. I surely enjoyed reading! :)
Jolie
Posted by: Jolie Makes Homemade Dog Food | May 16, 2008 10:35:42 AM
Long time reader of Bark, first time commenter.
Nothing good can be said of puppy mills or mall stores. But don't turn the disgusting farce that is pet stores into an "adopt, don't buy" argument. That is a false dichotomy.
Puppy Mill fed pet stores in malls are NOT the only place you can buy your next dog, and buying a dog from a caring and responsible hobby breeder is just as ethical as rescuing a dog from a shelter. In fact, doing so promotes ethical and sustainable breeding practices that are truly the only way to preserve healthy and well adjusted dog breeds into the future.
Rescue is beautiful, but good dogs need to be produced in the first place.
Santa isn't real. Neither is the Pet Overpopulation Crisis. Nathan Winograd's new book, Redemption, does a pretty convincing job explaining why our "shelter" system is broken and how the humane movement lost its way when it accepted city contracts to kill dogs instead of save them.
The book is full of eye opening realities that have been hidden under unfounded beliefs. The book is a must read.
But I have a few more facts that aren't in Redemption, and unlike Santa, they are real and turn the "adopt, don't buy, especially at Christmas" argument on its head.
(1) First, the idea that it does more harm than good to give a pet as a gift and that gift pets are more likely to end up in shelters.
That's false. Pets given as gifts are LESS likely, on average, to end up in shelters.
Pets obtained aged over 6 months are actually more likely to be ditched at a shelter than pets acquired as puppies.
Pets acquired for little or no cost are also more likely to be ditched at a shelter than pets that are purchased at a market price.
"Contrary to what many shelter workers would expect, these data showed that dogs received as gifts were much less likely to be relinquished to an animal shelter than those who were acquired directly from an animal shelter, a friend, a pet shop, or as a stray. Dogs whose owners paid $100 or more for them were less likely to be relinquished."
- "Exploring the Surplus Cat and Dog Problem"
http://www.petpopulation.org/exploring.pdf
The harm from "Christmas Puppies" doesn't come from Buying, nor from Gifting. The problem comes from where you buy, and that's the same all year round. Puppy mills and Mall Stores are awful all year round.
(2) More than twice the number of new homes become available each year for dogs than the number of dogs in all of the shelters. So, more than half of all dogs that people want to buy must come from a source other than rescue. According to the HSUS, 10% of owned dogs were adopted from an animal shelter.
Even if the rate of ditching animals at a shelter stays the same, it is possible to clear out all of our animal shelters, adopt every dog, if 50% of new dog buyers adopt instead of another method.
But what is the bigger issue that needs to be solved, that not enough people rescue or that too many people abandon their pets in shelters? We'd be foolish not to work on this problem from both ends.
The top five reasons that people ditch their dogs at shelters have nothing to do with breeders or overpopulation: (1) Moving, (2) Landlord Issues, (3) Cost of Pet Maintenance, (4) No Time For Pet, (5) Inadequate Facilities.
In fact, none of those reasons has to do with Puppy Mills and Mall Stores either. Sure, those two things are problems, but they are not the main cause of dogs in shelters.
None of those reasons is likely to change before, during, or after Christmas, or if the dog was bought, rescued, or even a gift.
(3) Before we get all preachy and tell people where they should get their pets, wouldn't it be a good idea to see where they get them now?
Again, HSUS information is surprising. People could respond to more than one category so the % is more than 100:
Friend/relative: 34%
Breeder: 29%
Newspaper/private party: 20%
Stray: 18%
Animal Shelter: 17%
Bred own animal: 16%
Pet Store: 8%
Gift: 7%
"Other:" 5%
Veterinarian: 1%
http://www.hsus.org/web-files/PDF/hsp/soa_ii_chap02.pdf
What's the lesson there? That few people get their animals from puppy mills via pet stores. Only 8%. And even Gift dogs is a very small percent.
And look up there at the top. Dogs gotten for little or no cost are already the most likely to be dumped, and the #1 source of pets is from irresponsible family/friends who give away their mistakes for free/little money.
The message should not be "Adopt, Never Buy." It should be "Adopt, Buy from a Breeder, but never from a pet store and never accept a free puppy from an acquaintance."
Oh, and to the hold out 30% of people who don't neuter/spay their pet but still don't have any plans or reason to breed them, get them fixed! That should be the holiday message. Have Santa bring your dog some Neuticles and give the gift of never having to worry about accidental puppies.
Posted by: Border Wars - Christopher | Jan 8, 2008 2:42:29 AM
I am in total agreement dogs should never be purchased from a pet store, they are just the ones that are perpetuating the puppy mills. The dog shelters and rescue centers have many abandoned dogs from these shops after people discover they have a disease, or are not well behaved. Please stop the cruelty to animals and do not purchase a dog from a pet shop.
Thanks,
Teri Salvador
http://www.DogHealth1.com
Posted by: Teri Salvador | Dec 15, 2007 7:47:40 PM
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