See #25
But responsible breeders who show and compete their dogs are selling a quality product for which there is always a high demand. My dog's breeder has a waiting list and her pups are spoken for as soon as she announces a breeding. When somebody in our hunting club announces a breeding, by the time the pups are ready to be weaned they are almost all spoken for.
And you might get a high-quality dog from the pound, but the chances are stacked against you. If you have a specific need (hunting, field trials, agility trials, coursing) the pedigreed dog bred for your need is the only way to go.
Plus pound dogs often have health and temperamental issues. Meeting all a dog's relatives is the best way to assess what his temperament is likely to be, and you can't do that with a pound pup.
If this is so true, how come shelters in the Boston area have resorted to importing pariah (feral) dogs from Puerto Rico to fill the demand for shelter pups?
There are breeds of dogs, like the Saluki, which have existed since the time before Christ. Are you saying, that because there are some irresponsible owners, mostly of unspayed mongrels (purebred dogs are not exactly filling the shelters), that people who love such breeds (or any breed) should have to watch them go extinct?
Lastly, this is a conservative forum. You want to impose your values on everyone. Why should people who want a huge dog or one that will mature to less than 10 pounds not be able to own what they want? Mutts are fine for people who want one, but those people who want a given breed of dog aren't going to depend on your approval, thank goodness.
There are good breeders, and bad ones. Don't paint all of them with the same brush.