Adopt a dog before buying from a reputable breeder.
It doesn’t matter how good a breeder is. There are a hundred dogs of the exact breed you are looking for being put to death today because there are too many pets.
That’s such an americentric statement. There are other countries in the world, you know?
In Germany we have such a small amount of stray dogs, or ones getting surrendered to shelters, that shelters have to import dogs from other countries to fulfill demand. And there have been tons of cases where those turned out to come from puppy mills abroad.
So yes, there are cases where buying from a reputable breeder is a much more ethical option than getting a dog from a shelter
The answer is still to adopt. The dogs are coming either from a shelter or a mill and both are good sources for adoption.
The former means it’s still giving a dog a home. It is still a dog that needs a home regardless of which country it originated from.
The latter seems completely nonsense if the German shelters are paying full price and still giving the dogs up for adoption at reasonable rates. They’d be losing a ton of money. And if they’re taking the leftovers from the puppy mills for cheap or free, then those are still losses to the mills and are discouraging more breeding. Also, those are still dogs that need homes regardless of source. Just because a dog was born in a mill doesn’t mean it deserves not to be adopted.
In either case the answer is still to get a dog from a shelter.
Adopt a dog before buying from a reputable breeder.
It doesn’t matter how good a breeder is. There are a hundred dogs of the exact breed you are looking for being put to death today because there are too many pets.
That’s such an americentric statement. There are other countries in the world, you know?
In Germany we have such a small amount of stray dogs, or ones getting surrendered to shelters, that shelters have to import dogs from other countries to fulfill demand. And there have been tons of cases where those turned out to come from puppy mills abroad.
So yes, there are cases where buying from a reputable breeder is a much more ethical option than getting a dog from a shelter
https://www.iamexpat.de/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/pandemic-pets-are-filling-animal-shelters-germany
There are 3 million dogs in US shelters and German shelters are getting their dogs from foreign puppy mills instead of the US?
The answer is still to adopt. The dogs are coming either from a shelter or a mill and both are good sources for adoption.
The former means it’s still giving a dog a home. It is still a dog that needs a home regardless of which country it originated from.
The latter seems completely nonsense if the German shelters are paying full price and still giving the dogs up for adoption at reasonable rates. They’d be losing a ton of money. And if they’re taking the leftovers from the puppy mills for cheap or free, then those are still losses to the mills and are discouraging more breeding. Also, those are still dogs that need homes regardless of source. Just because a dog was born in a mill doesn’t mean it deserves not to be adopted.
In either case the answer is still to get a dog from a shelter.