Yup, when I adopted my two cats, they each came with a medical history from their initial entry into the shelter, and subsequent care. My boy cat picked me out, my girl cat was my choice. Both cats had been abused prior to the shelter, and I knew the girl cat would have some issues. The shelter was up front about it,…

This 100%! Nothing shows me she is a “reputable breeder”
1) She had 40 dogs... no one can properly care for 40 dogs, she has a fing puppy mill. Most “reputable” breeders will have 2-4 litters a year, which is 1-3 mom dogs.... so even if she had 3 females and 2 males, and all 3 females had litters at the time (3-8 pups…

What a handsome guy!

The best advice that I got from a shelter employee when I was looking to adopt a dog (and I got a lot of good advice) was 1) know your limits — in my case, don’t adopt a difficult dog when it’s your first one, and 2) you’ll know. And sure enough, when I met my pups it was love at first sight and I’ve had no regrets. I…

... and if someone definitely wants a specific breed, they can always start with their local breed rescue.

You are all good people. Thank you.

Um, yes to all of this!

After my dear Miss Kitty, a tabby, died, and I was considering adopting another cat, I was thinking of a black cat. I saw one at the shelter, but we didn’t click. Nope, another tabby got to me first. I’ve had her for almost eight years.

Yeah. When you’ve got 41 dogs on site, you aren’t a breeder. You’re a puppy mill.

2nd all of this, with the added exception of extreme allergy cases, like my family. However, we still found a purebred, hypoallergenic dog at the shelter and adopted her, but it was years of us waiting for the right dog to show up at the shelter before we got one. Patients goes a long way to getting the right pet for…

Also, if you want a specific breed, definitely research breed-specific rescues. When looking for a dog that would be my wife’s first pet, I knew an italian greyhound would be a good option for her, so we found a great 6 year old iggy from a rescue that specialized in the breed and he’s been amazing to have since.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! Look at that face! And this is a lovely story, so thank you for sharing. <3

Reputable breeder is an oxymoron anyway. A dog dies every 8 seconds in the US alone, probably every 1 second in South America and other countries, for lack of homes.

P.S. I don’t think you should ever crop a dog’s ears, but this is why there are laws against people doing it at home:

So yeah, diversion aside remember a breeder is trying to sell you something. They’re out to make a living off getting your money in exchange for that life. A Rescuer is in it to save lives, and whatever money they ask for is going toward their costs for getting the animal safe and healthy, or toward the next animal…

Admittedly, as the ED of an animal shelter, I am a bit biased, but yeah, there was nothing in that article that pointed to some grand effort by “animal rights activists” to go after this lady. I mean there are some bat-shit insane people in my field who will go after anyone they feel is “wrong” but that really doesn’t…

I agree with everything you said and I also want you to know that I love your cat.

The difference is that Kate Winslet is worth something like $90m and doesn’t need to be in a fucking Woody Allen movie to pay her mortgage.

This is heartbreaking so instead I will pretend this article was about what I first thought upon reading the headline, which is: a schnauzer who is 81 years old and also a queen.

Chanukah doesn’t start until next week, so here’s the obligatory chaser: