[hotpotato]

Let me get this straight... you are claiming that a breed rescue organization that depends on donations to support their organization paid $1600 per puppy (I don't care what breed or how rare) at a petstore knowing their purchase would support a puppymill in order to spay/neuter the puppy so that *that* puppy would not pass on bad genes? And they did this frequently?

[Central Scrutiniser]

No, perhaps I didn't communicate it well. People in the breed club, when they saw poor examples of their breed in the pet stores would buy the dog and spay or neuter it, and then find a home for the dog. Frequently, they would get money from the breed club. They didn't want poorly bred dogs out on the market. The dog was already born, and could pass bad genes. You know what happens to pet store dogs when they don't sell don't you? They go back to the breeder, and they are usually euthanised or become studs or dams. That ain't good. As for the $1600, that was what I was quoted in a very upscale mall in Scottsdale, probably much less in other stores and other cities.

Why are you freaking out? I don't want my breed polluted by a bunch of poorly bred dogs. At least the breed club members could be sure that the dogs they bought would go to a good, well screened owner and that they wouldn't pass bad genes, nor would they be euthanised. It was a hell of a lot easier to do when there were only 10-20 dogs on the market each year. I'd much rather have a dog that is fairly rare and has no bad genes from a puppy mill than see a whole pile of crappy puppies out there bred by irresponsible breeders.

[Central Scrutiniser]

BTW, just met a beautiful 4 year old Shiba Inu, absolutely wonderful dog, everybody thought it was a "mini Akita"