© Saxony Great Danes 2003

It is indeed tragic that there are so many dogs in need of homes - and yes, in a perfect world all of those dogs would have homes. I worked for many years at our local SPCA, so I can certainly understand the sentiment behind “Adopt, don’t shop”. The reasoning being that if people were to adopt a dog needing a home (instead of buying a pup) we would end up in the glorious situation where shelters would be empty. Now while this sounds great in theory (and we support any objective that improves animal welfare) the “Adopt, don’t shop” strategy has two inherent problems: • Free choice - There are many dogs needing homes due to irresponsible human activities, but surely the actions of others should not impact on the individual’s choice? In other words if a responsible loving couple wish to have a baby is it fair to say they should be frowned upon for doing so until all the unwanted children in the world are adopted? This is an extreme example, but it illustrates the point. • Free pass for morons - There are individuals out there who have done terrible/stupid things, which have resulted in dogs needing homes. But why should responsible people be made to tidy up their mess? The morons who created this mess are the ones who should be penalised. As harsh as it sounds everytime we adopt a dog we basically give the morons a free pass to continue their terrible behaviour. But we do this because the moron does not suffer, the poor dog does! Ironically everytime we save a dog from a horrible situation we are also cleaning up the moron’s mess and opening a spot for another mess. Of course one can not leave the animal to suffer - it’s a real Catch 22... The choice to “adopt or shop” should be totally up to the person in question, with neither option being seen as morally superior to the other. How can you make a difference: 1. Considering adopting a dog. Visit the Great Dane Rescue ZA page on Facebook for details. 2. If you choose to buy a pup instead please make sure that you only support ethical breeders. If people only ever bought from ethical breeders, there would be no dogs in rescue. 3. Educate others about the “big picture perils” of buying from puppy farmers and backyard breeders. 4. Donate time, money or a special skill to Great Dane Rescue ZA and/or your local animal shelter. We have the space and an extra animal doesn’t cost thaaaaat much more, so over the years Saxony Great Danes has given a home to a number of rescues, some of which were dogs :-).  

Adopt or Shop?