10/24/2026
"THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS ETHICAL BREEDING"
I’ve seen a LOT of you argue that "adopt don't shop" is harmful, outdated, or unfair to "responsible breeders".
So before you start fist-fighting me in the comments - hear me out for a second.
I understand that not EVERY breeder operates the same way.
I understand that there ARE people who put time, money, and effort into preserving breeds, doing the right health testing, and producing healthy, well-adjusted puppies. BUT…
Just because someone CALLS themselves an ethical, responsible, reputable breeder doesn’t mean they ARE one...
EVERYONE wants to claim they’re an ethical breeder. They’ll tell you their dogs are health tested, their puppies are raised with love, and they care so much about the breed....
But what does that really MEAN? Taking your dog to the Vet for a wellness exam isn’t the same thing as doing appropriate genetic and breed-specific health screening. Having AKC-registered dogs does NOT mean you’re breeding responsibly.
And loving your dogs doesn’t mean you should be breeding them. Ethical breeding is supposed to involve a LOT more than just producing healthy-looking puppies and finding people willing to buy them. And personally? I do have a very hard time with the idea of intentionally breeding MORE dogs when we have so many sitting in shelters and rescues waiting for homes.
Okay - But “I NEED A SPECIFIC BREED BECAUSE I WANT TO KNOW WHAT I’M GETTING!”
How do you REALLY know what you’re getting? You can research a breed’s general temperament, energy level, instincts, and behavioral tendencies.
But you’re still purchasing a PUPPY. You don’t know exactly what that puppy’s personality will be when it’s two years old. You don’t know what behavioral challenges might come along as they get older. You don’t know how its experiences, environment, training, and individual temperament will shape the adult dog it becomes. A "breed standard" is not a personality guarantee. If that were the case, why do we see purebred dogs being surrendered and rehomed because their owners can’t handle their energy, behavior, or needs?
My thoughts?
ADOPTING AN ADULT DOG CAN GIVE YOU A BETTER IDEA OF WHAT YOU’RE BRINGING HOME.
ESPECIALLY when that dog has been living in a foster home. As a foster parent myself, I can tell you that we learn SO MUCH about these animals while they’re in our care. We learn their personalities, habits, energy levels, fears, and quirks. We learn how they interact with other animals, whether they’re comfortable around children, how they behave in a home, and what kinds of environments seem to suit them best.
We can tell you whether they’re house trained, crate trained, destructive, vocal, affectionate, independent, or attached to their people.
Does that mean we can "guarantee" how an animal will behave in every environment? Of course not.
But there’s a pretty significant difference between having firsthand observations of an established personality and trying to predict what an eight-week-old puppy will be like in two years. And yet, I see people hating on adoption because they want to “know what they’re getting.” Have you considered that adopting an adult dog might actually give you MORE of the information you’re looking for?
I hear you guys screaming “BUT THERE ARE ETHICAL BREEDERS!”
I’m not denying that there are... but i do question how easily people accept that title without even verifying anything. If you’re going to defend "ethical breeding" I think you should be JUST as concerned about the people PRETENDING to be ethical breeders as you are about the people criticizing breeding altogether.
And I also hear yall screaming
“BUT ETHICAL BREEDERS DON’T CONTRIBUTE TO SHELTER OVERCROWDING!”
Really? NEVER?
I understand why you have that argument... because Responsible breeders often have contracts requiring buyers to return dogs to them if they can no longer keep them, they carefully screen prospective owners, and make lifelong commitments to the animals they produce.
Those ARE good practices!
And to that I say....
A contract can't GUARANTEE what will happen to that animal over the next 10 to 15 years.
Breeders can be removed as a contact on microchips.
Shelters don't always follow chip scanning procedures.
People get divorced. They lose their jobs. They develop serious health problems. They die. They move. Their financial circumstances change.
Sometimes a dog develops behavioral issues that its owner isn’t equipped to manage.
Sometimes the original owner rehomes the dog privately, and the next owner has absolutely NO relationship with the breeder or knowledge of a return agreement.
Sometimes a family member inherits the dog and doesn’t even know who the breeder was.
Sometimes the breeder retires, becomes ill, dies, or simply isn’t reachable when the dog needs somewhere to go.
And I hate to be the bearer of bad news.... but sometimes people just DON’T follow their contracts.
What happens when a dog is surrendered to a shelter without anyone contacting the breeder?
What happens when that dog has changed hands three times and nobody even knows where it originally came from?
That dog doesn’t become exempt from entering the shelter just because it originally came from someone who followed responsible breeding practices.
A breeder can be responsible for the decision
THEY make, but they cannot control every decision someone else will make throughout that dog’s lifetime. They can screen applicants. They can have contracts. They can microchip their puppies. They can promise to take their dogs back. All of those things can REDUCE the risk of a dog entering a shelter. But none of them can eliminate that possibility of it still happening.
Now, am I claiming responsibly bred dogs enter shelters at the same rate as dogs from irresponsible breeding operations? NO. And I wouldn’t make that argument without evidence.
But there’s a pretty significant difference between saying responsible breeding practices HELP prevent dogs from entering shelters and claiming that ethically bred dogs NEVER end up there.
That's a guarantee NOBODY can make, but a lot of you still fight me on that perspective.
Now, if you’re absolutely DEAD SET on purchasing a puppy, PLEASE do your research. And I don’t mean scrolling through a breeder’s page and deciding they seem like nice people. I mean ACTUALLY investigating their breeding practices.
🚩 SOME RED FLAGS:
🚩 They constantly have puppies available or advertise litter after litter.
🚩 They breed for trendy colors, exaggerated physical features, or whatever dogs are currently selling for the highest prices.
🚩 They claim their dogs are “health tested” but can’t provide verifiable, breed-appropriate testing results.
🚩 They use AKC registration or a basic veterinary examination as "proof" of responsible breeding.
🚩 They won’t provide transparency about where and how their dogs and puppies are raised.
🚩 They ask little or nothing about the homes their puppies are going to.
🚩 They have no plan for what happens if someone can no longer keep a dog they bred, or they never even mention it.
✅ SOME GREEN FLAGS:
✅ Verifiable, breed-specific health testing on breeding dogs.
✅ A clear breeding purpose focused on preserving or improving health, temperament, and functional characteristics.
✅ Thoughtful breeding decisions rather than constantly producing litters.
✅ Appropriate veterinary care, humane living conditions, and early puppy socialization.
✅ Transparency about genetic risks, health concerns, and the limitations of what breeding can predict.
✅ Careful screening of prospective owners.
✅ A willingness to take responsibility for dogs they’ve produced throughout those dogs’ lives, including helping with rehoming or taking them back.
And even then, checking a few boxes doesn’t automatically make someone ethical.
Responsible breeding is demonstrated through consistent practices and accountability, not a label someone gives themselves.
“ADOPT, DON’T SHOP.”
Do I think every rescue animal is appropriate for every household? NO.
Do I think people should be pressured into adopting an animal that doesn’t fit their lifestyle or needs? ABSOLUTELY NOT.
But, do I think educating people on adoption and encouraging them to "adopt don't shop" is harmful? NO. NOT AT ALL.
Because the purpose of advocating for adoption isn’t saying that every person who purchases a dog is a terrible human being.
It’s to encourage people to recognize that there ARE already animals HERE who need homes.
Animals of all ages, sizes, breeds, personalities, and backgrounds.
Including puppies.
Including purebreds.
Including dogs that have been raised in loving homes and surrendered through circumstances completely outside their control.
Too many people dismiss those animals before ever giving adoption serious consideration.
I don’t have to be against EVERY breeder to recognize the importance of adoption.
But I also don’t think we should be so eager to defend breeding that we stop questioning whether producing MORE animals is necessary, responsible, or ethical in the circumstances we’re facing.
THAT'S where me fighting you in the comments comes in.
When hundreds of thousands of dogs are being euthanized in shelters, I have a hard time celebrating the intentional production of more puppies, regardless of how beautiful their pedigrees are. And I recognize that responsible breeding and shelter overcrowding aren’t connected by one simple cause-and-effect relationship. But that doesn’t make the ethical question disappear. Just because someone CAN breed dogs responsibly doesn’t mean we shouldn’t question whether they SHOULD.
At the end of the day, I don’t expect everyone to agree with my position. But I DO hope that before someone decides they absolutely HAVE to purchase a puppy, they’ll take the time to explore adoption.
Visit your local shelters.
Look into foster-based rescues.
