FREE wth rehoming fee!

One of the biggest problems in rescue is that it's a one puppy forward 3 puppies back (well, depending on the litter.) I generally advocate a friendly, informing approach but unlike ignorant pet owners who just aren't good with their animals, most breeders seem to feel that they are experts.

Then you have people like this gem. Yessiree, a responsible breeder always gets their animals free (with rehoming fee) off craigslist!


Lets hope this gets flagged faster than lightspeed:
http://westernmass.craigslist.org/zip/773602055.html

"1 year 2 month old purebred husky. She knows her commands and how to ask to go outside to use the bathroom and all those such things. she is quiet, and has all her papers and is current on her shots. Great for breeding, or great pet to LOVE. Ask me about her. The dog is free. But we just ask for a small re-homing fee."

WTF is free with a small rehoming fee? What does that mean? Getting around the rules much? This is a beautiful animal but she needs to be spayed.

I don't understand why people think that papers = breed it. Even my parents when I was younger saw it that way, (though we never actually bred a dog!) . I think that some of it may be the status symbol that some purebreds are given. In my opinion, the best way to deter people not already breeding would be to show them how many purebreds end up in rescues. According to the HSUS 20-30% of shelter animals today are purebreds. All sorts end up in rescue.

Part of the problem is lack of education. So many of these BYB's compare themselves to puppy-mills and pat themselves on the back for being so much better. Many do take good care of their animals, but this is not enough to be a responsible breeder. However, since most people don't know a quality dog or what to look for, many people are able to sell their puppies at a high profit without investing much in care/shots/proper nutrition/screening. Clearly papers=quality to many people.

I feel like the only way we can change this is education. If we can somehow advertise the wide-availability of purebreds in rescue we can get rid of a lot of these misconceptions. I'm embarrassed to say it was only recently I learned myself of the amount of purebreds in rescue and I'm genuinely interested in rescue! This means it is most likely not the general knowledge that it ought to be.

How can we fix this? Thoughts anyone?