Adopting

Like I said in the other thread, the term "adoption" shouldn't be in question, IMO. Everyone adopts their dog (i.e. gives a biologically unrelated animal a forever home), so no one should feel bad for using the word or told it's incorrect unless it's in regard to a legal dispute. You shouldn't have to generalize your happiness, because it isn't wrong to say you're "adopting". The term that should be in question is "rescue".
 
Lightplum said:
Back onto the topic at hand now, I feel its just the way society has moved to make and justify their purchases as being rescues. There is not a stigma attached to you if you say ohh my dog was rescued, in fact people will say way to go what a responsible thing youve done..yehhy you! You come out and say Oh I purchased my dog from a breeder and now a days your liable to get a public flogging as its viewed as unacceptable and you'll hear well you just killed a shelter dog (never mind you if didnt want a pit mix)...just my .02
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I think it's just the arc of the universe. Fifty years ago, no one batted an eyelash at saying they "bought" a dog, because that's exactly what they did. A hundred years ago, stray animals in NYC were destroyed by being lowered into the East River in a cage. A hundred and fifty years ago, dog fighting was legal in England.

Now we feel a twitch of discomfort when we say we bought our pets, just as we feel a stab of it when we talk about buying a human being. "Bought" is an absolute wrong for humans, and in the developed world, we all agree on that. But we also feel that it is maybe - slightly - a little - wrong for dogs, too. We aren't totally comfortable with it.

The fact that the term makes us uncomfortable is just evidence of the moral shift our culture has undergone with respect to nonhuman animals. It's an inexorable change that has been in process for centuries - it's nothing new. But every generation crosses new borders, and experiences the same pushback ("It's just a dog", "They don't experience pain [the way we do]", "You're a bleeding-heart", etc. have yet to go out of style).
 
But yet "bought" is no biggy for livestock. My llama breeder bought a horse for her daughter and they are best friends, a working team, competitors, and that horse as a trained cattle horse certainly thinks and makes decisions. Not just livestock, but a companion animal. I bought my two llamas from a breeder/exhibitor and no one thinks I should have adopted or rescued some. I bought sheep and goats from backyard breeders (who EAT what they don't sell no less). I did "rescue" two stray mini goats because they were strays and the alternative was death by predator but that was a major fluke.

I personally was sold/bought once. I do medical transcription and my employer sold the business -- server/computer access, clients, and transcriptionists. We were not allowed to leave without working for the new company for a period of time until they had someone who could handle our clients. Thus, we were sold with the business and it felt really really odd.

Yes, it is interesting how the PC universe has changed things. Not sure why people care how you got the animal more than what you do with them once you have them.
 
I have yet to meet anyone who has dared say anything to my face for buying, or worse yet, BREEDING my own dogs. God help the person who is foolish enough to do so. I am PROUD of my dogs and the fact they were purchased from breeders, or bred by me.
Not to say I don't respect those who get dogs from shelters or breed rescues, I very much do, but I think we should all be able to celebrate where our dogs come from, whether it be breeder, shelter, or breed rescue, without tearing the other down. I have no tolerance for a person being looked down on for buying their dog from a breeder. Or from a shelter, or a breed rescue.
 
Mom2Melli said:
But yet "bought" is no biggy for livestock. My llama breeder bought a horse for her daughter and they are best friends, a working team, competitors, and that horse as a trained cattle horse certainly thinks and makes decisions. Not just livestock, but a companion animal.
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Of course "bought" is no biggie for livestock; we regard them as a separate class of animals. "Livestock"are animals that we sell, kill, eat. "Pets" are the animals that we adopt, love, cherish. That's through no special merit of their own besides the immunity we're chosen to bestow on them (some people love and cherish cows, for example). It's the same cognitive dissonance that lets us cuddle our doggies and eat pork chops for dinner.

Mom2Melli said:
I bought sheep and goats from backyard breeders (who EAT what they don't sell no less).
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Well, there you go. As much as we complain about BYBs of dogs, I have yet to hear of one in the US who breeds them to eat them. It's easy to say you bought a goat, because even if you personally don't eat goats, they still lie outside the circle that separates "pet them" from "eat them".
 
Perhaps I am the only one who feels this way, but there are some very - very disturbing analogies that have crept into this thread.
 
HopeShelties said:
Not to say I don't respect those who get dogs from shelters or breed rescues, I very much do, but I think we should all be able to celebrate where our dogs come from, whether it be breeder, shelter, or breed rescue, without tearing the other down. I have no tolerance for a person being looked down on for buying their dog from a breeder. Or from a shelter, or a breed rescue.
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Right on. The only places I will never celebrate are puppy mills and BYB.

Without responsible breeders we wouldn't even have the sheltie breed we know and love....they are the "keepers" of the qualities that we love in our breed. And thankfully, there are shelters and rescues that do their best to save the little dogs who suddenly find themselves without a family at some point in their life. All are needed and all should be celebrated.

As to "Mom" and "Dad"...that is what we are to our little ones. Yes, we are fully aware they are not human...but they are a huge part of our lives and our joy...even though we do have 2 sons, 5 grandchildren and one great grandchild.

Trini
 
Lightplum said:
Back onto the topic at hand now, I feel its just the way society has moved to make and justify their purchases as being rescues. There is not a stigma attached to you if you say ohh my dog was rescued, in fact people will say way to go what a responsible thing youve done..yehhy you! You come out and say Oh I purchased my dog from a breeder and now a days your liable to get a public flogging as its viewed as unacceptable and you'll hear well you just killed a shelter dog (never mind you if didnt want a pit mix)...just my .02
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That is so true. When I got Ruutu everyone of my friends were on me about the fact I got him from a breeder and not a rescue. I understand that without people rescuing dogs there would be a mad house. BUT a responsible breeder would have homes for all those dogs AND request the dog back if for some reason it didn't work. Therefore none of them would ever touch a pound, shelter or rescue (unless lost). I'm glad that people do rescue, but it's not for me, at least at this time in my life.
 
I don't care WHAT people call it as long as they get their dogs from somewhere other than a pet store/byb. Rescue, rehome, adopt, anything just don't buy from a pet store. There are too many dogs waiting for homes to support byb.
 
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