threeplusfire | (no subject)

I had a thought that pleased me immensely, and it's been percolating in the back of my head for some time.

There's no reason to buy animals from breeders just to have a pet, in my opinion. Now if you need a dog to herd sheep, a police dog, a seeing eye dog, or a race horse then you probably need one bred for that task. That makes a certain sense, as tiny yapping dogs don't hear sheep well, and big dogs don't hunt little mammals in tunnels well.

But just a pet? My mom has a beautiful Abyssinian cat because the breeder dumped her at the clinic. She couldn't be bothered with an animal that wasn't physically perfect, and the poor kitten had a tiny white cowlick on her back.

I have to wonder if those people who insist on having little perfect pets will be the same people who insist on little perfect genetically designed and bred babies one day.

How many animals at a shelter could be saved with the money spent on a "purebred" animal? People should have to watch all those animals be executed.

I'm well aware my opinion on the subject isn't a popular one. I'm well aware people on list on LJ have animals they bought from breeders. I don't give a damn if people think I'm overly critical or harsh about the subject. It's been on my mind lately, with all the stray sad beasts.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Exactly! There are so many options, so many people & organizations. I love the greyhound rescue people especially, and one day I hope I can adopt a greyhound because I hear they have great laid back personalities.

The thing about people breeding - we should do it for love and not to create "perfect" kids. Can you imagine if people went around dumping kids because they didn't have the right hair color or hip ratio? I hear though, that you love your kids no matter what even if you do adopt some of them.

I would never breed my own kids in hopes of making them "perfect"- after all my genes are pretty shitty already, and the best I could hope for is that they'd get some of the better ones, like a good metabolism, without getting as many of my genes for cancer, heart disease, and anxiety...

I hope that if you adopt kids and feel like they're your own, you'll love them just like if you had them yourself. Unfortunately I have family members with adopted stepkids and they claim they just don't/can't love them like they love their other kids, no matter how early they adopted the kids.

I also though have a really good friend who was adopted, and then his parents had a kid of their own making quite by accident. He doesn't seem to feel like they treated him any differently, so I guess it might work out after all.

I have some friends who adopted children, because they were unable to have them on their own. I think because Larry & Caroline had to go through so much to adopt, they love the kids all the more. Some of my close friends were adopted, and they are all shockingly well adjusted. ;)

I think it all depends on the emotional investment you put into that relationship.