I favor the rescue animal, as there are so many abandoned and in need of care. If i can help even one, then i have served a purpose in this life :)

I'd never get a pet from a pet store unless it was a fish. If it's possible, it would be a rescue or from a shelter. If not, then it would come from an individual who practices good thoughtful breeding practices.

I'd never EVER buy a dog or cat from a pet store. Ideally, you would want to find a reputable breeder. IF you are knowledgeable and flexible enough, you would be doing a great thing by taking a rescue animal. HOWEVER, if you are a first time dog/cat owner or are inexperienced with animals, a rescue animal should be selected with great care.

Pet stores are pretty much puppy mills. With so many unwanted animals, I would never buy from a pet store and trust me on this. You save an animal from a rescue and you have a watchdog for LIFE

Never go to the pet store unless you do your homework in advance. Insist on seeing where the animal came from and visit the breeder. It should be clean and inviting. Ask why the breeder is selling their animals through a pet store and not themselves. Good luck doing this as it's almost impossible! Try the rescue animal first as the SPCA's are full of loving pets waiting to be adopted. Try searching a rescue site (like Greyhound rescue) or the American Kennel Club for the name of a reputable breeder. MOST times, a breeder must be in perfect standing to belong to the AKC. Happy adopting!

It's nice to rescue an animal, I rescued one of my cats, he was only six months old and had already been rescued and returned. No idea why, he is the most laid back cat around, never scratches and bites. Unlike my female cat who I had from a kitten at eight weeks old from a private home.

I bought 2 boxers from 2 different people....one was some one who keeps breeding the mother almost every year at the same time.....didn't know it till just this past Nov....when I ran into him at the P.O. My friend who works with shelters and to raise money to help those who can't fix their animals....told m e those kinda people are called backyard breeders and that it is illegal to do that.That dog cost me $50. The other girl had bred her dog and sold her puppy to me for 250...she has papers... If I could do it all over again....I would go to a shelter...it is because of people like me who do not know better and buy a dog from a guy who is basically hurting the mother by breeding her every year....that is why we have so many dogs in shelters. I really want to call him and tell him that what he is doing is wrong. People here where I live are so ignorant and treat their pets like they are replaceable items....let them wander around loose and if they get hit by a car...they get hit by a car......just plain stupid....they put no value on their pets. It makes me so mad!!!!!

Very easy choice. A rescue animal. Buying a pet shop animal just adds to the problem.

In the time it takes you to say "three thousand puppies" about that many were born in the world. Between 1.5 and to over 2 million dogs were put down last year in the US. New York city shelters killed more than 26,000 unwanted dogs in 2007. Walk down any street in any city and notice the number of dogs chained up and hardly ever get any human interaction. If you purchase a dog from a store you most likely are getting it from an unknown breeder. If you insist on a breed, and insist and paying big bucks at the very least go to where the dogs are being bred. Meet the people, meet the other dogs, meet the parents of the pup. Pure breeds are also more prone to health problems as the genes have not been diluted so if in the family line had it more than likely the pup will have or develop. I could go on and on. By buying from a breeder you just gave them another reason to do it again.

If you trust the pet store and the animals are healthy and the pet store has a close relationship with the breeder and is happy to pass this information on to you then I do not see why this should be a problem. I would only consider getting an animal from a shelter if it was, a)very young i.e. a puppy/kitten (because then bonding with it would be more straight forward) or b)I didn't have children (because children can stress an already stressed animal out more and there is greater risk of the animal attacking your child) and c) I was prepared to put time and effort into dealing with any emotional/behaivoural problems the animal may have. Rescue animals may have backgrounds of abuse, neglect and/or behavioural problems so this makes them a bigger commitment from you than one bought from a pet store. The last thing the dog needs is to be returned to the rescue centre again because you are unable to handle it. A third option to what the questioner has put would be to buy direct from the breeder/person whose pet has had the puppies because then at least you would be starting from scratch and beable to get help and advice from the expert specific to that breed. So my answer would be, direct from the breeder if you just want a pet. Or from a rescue centre if you want the project of rehoming an abandoned, stressed animal to prevent it from getting put down. The way I would approach the decision would be to imagine if you were unable to have children would you rather adopt from birth or take a child in from care/foster?

I would never, ever buy from a pet store because I don't want to support puppy mills. I'd go to a reputable breeder, not a "back-yard breeder," or a shelter.