Pet Shops Who Sell Rescue Dogs, Hmmm, Wtf?

[Pollywaffle]

I guess my largest concern with rescue pets in petstores is it still is the impulse buy thing, people see them, fall in love and then want them, regardless of whether they are ready for them. And when someones there with their heart set on a dog, it's alot harder to turn them away then if they are on the phone or have just seen photos or whatever. I'd still be worried the workers wouldn't have the time and resources to screen adoptees properly.

What happens to the puppies that come out funny looking? What happens to the puppies that don't get sold before their sell by date, even when the petshop has kept knocking the price down?? Best not to know?

They get disposed of, or sold sooooo cheap that any random can buy them with their latest paycheque. Infact that's one of the things that concerns me to most, when they mark the dogs down to next to nothing and put the sale signs up in their windows, they make them more affordable to passersby which can be even worse then the thousand dollar price tags because people can just impulse buy even easier...

But what about the ones who don't go even at the cheapest price? My Penelope is one of them...

She's an oodle, a Foxidoodle to be exact (yea what the hell???). From puppy farm to pet shop at 6 weeks. Sat in pet shop window for 6 months and at nearly 8 months was so damaged that I, as a sucker of a vet nurse, took her to try and rehabilitate and rehome. She was a mess, the act of clipping her toe nails sent her into convulsions and screaming, she knew only that you pee in your bed and kept going into my bedroom to pee, grass was so scary to her, she screamed when she hit the grass, and every time I held her she wrapped her arms around my neck and clung to me. She's been with me over two years now and just last week we finally mastered toilet training! It's been two whole years of having pee-mats next to my bed, and last week she figured it out, that we pee OUTSIDE and she is soooo excited everytime she get's it right...

But yeah, they were "getting rid of her" and I took her... As a foster. Short term. But Penelope had other plans and at the time I took her to foster and rehabilitate her, it was one of my lowest points of my life and Penelope rehabilitated ME! She's now my sweetheart and comes to work at the vet clinic and sits on the chair at reception and every time someone asks "what is she?" it opens the oppurtunity for me to say "She's a DESIGNER DOG..." and then we tell them about where puppies really come from and what Penelope went through and still goes through after having that start to life.

But I love her. We designer her up with bling, bows and leopard print just cos it's as ridiculous as her designer name... But I adore her. She rescued me for sure, not the other way around. And together we will advocate against designer dogs! Go team

Sorry to share photos, but I like for people to see that THIS IS what a designer dog looks like. This is one of the ones who didn't turn out quite right and was one of the true victims of the designer trend!!!

All I can see is a drop dead gorgeous girl, whose story brings (literally) tears to my eyes...a lovely ending.

[mita]

Those photos are gorgeous. That's one much loved little dog. Bears out what people have always said on these forums.....the little 'designed' dogs are the innocent victims of marketing hype. And that little sweetie had the good fortune to find a genuinely loving forever home.

[mita]

I hope it works mita. In theory from all you have said it is great and a fabulous concept if all goes according to plan. I am very pro animal and wish only the best for all concerned, but to be honest I can see the cons here as well.

I am realist and I am not over enthused about the idea.

I hear what you're saying, ILK. And those of us who agree with the idea, would agree with you that it must be well planned in order to work on behalf of the animals. AWL Qld has it nailed to be the best it can be. All their checks & balances, which would apply at their shelter, apply at their Pet Adoption Centres. The store acts solely as another location.

An example. A retired lady we know recently lost her elderly much-loved cat (ex-rescue). She would, in the near future, love a new cat and watches the AWL website with interest, because they have such healthy & well-socialised cats. But she's past the point of driving all the way to the AWL Gold Coast Shelter. So she picks out the ones that are at the Pet Adoption Centre which is only a 20 minute drive. She tells us she has her folder of info to take with her for the screening interview, when she finally makes a decision, along with a vet reference.

[Eileen]

But the public dont know what to look for and for them its a pet shop selling dogs and puppies.

And this is the root of the problem, and why I don't think it is appropriate. Unscrupulous stores would ape the language of stores doing it ethically, and we would have the same problem now, only the problems would be harder to spot, as all stores would be talking the same language - "adopting" dogs/puppies; "careful screening"; "matching owner to dog"; "health checks" etc.

You only have to look at the puppy pages on DOL of a breed that has been corrupted by people looking to make a buck, and check out their websites to see how easy it is for people to make it look like they are doing the right right thing. They copy the text from true breeders' websites onto their own, making it look like their are ethical breeders. Puppy buyers don't know the difference.

And the general public who want to do the right thing won't either. They will see that Pets Paradise is adopting out rescue puppies, and go through the careful screening, and walk out with a dog in their arms. They will then think they have done a good thing by adopting a rescue, while the real things rot in pounds.

I just think it is easier to keep pushing the line that pet shops are for pet supplies, and if you want a pet, go to a shelter/registered breeder.