On the word "Adoption"
I have seen the topic brought up countless times on if breeders should use the term adoption or not. Should adoption only refer to pets coming from rescues/shelters or can it be used in any situation? If you look around my site you can see that I do use the term adoption. It is not to try and hide the fact that I am a breeder or make it seem like idk a nicer heartwarming thing....
I am a breeder, you are buying the rats. I am proud to be a breeder and bring beautiful, healthy, sweet rats into this world. I think that would only be an excuse if someone were trying to hide the fact that they breed or felt guilty about it. I've written posts and in my policies/ethics page I go into detail on why I breed. I also feel very strongly and support rescues. I've volunteered with shelters and rescues. I am very strongly against back yard breeding (BYB) which to me is breeding without a true purpose of bettering the animals/lines. We do not need more animals brought into this world without that purpose when so many are in shelters and I feel people should always consider rescuing. But I do support and see the need for breeders who breed to better animals. And that is one of the main reasons I breed. In rats for example, many of the rats out there often have behavior/aggression issues and lots of health issues. The only way this is going to change is to have experienced legit responsible breeders working to change that. So by using the term adoption, I am certainly not trying to hide or cover up breeding. By the very definition of adoption:
: the act or process of adopting a child
: the act or process of beginning to use something new or different
: the act or process of giving official acceptance or approval to something
To me adoption is taking the pet into your home and family. It is making it a part of your life. Yes you are buying it, money is being exchanged. Rescues also have fees. In the end, I just prefer to use the term adopt over buy for living things. I think of buying as relating to objects and material things and just have a hard time using it towards living breathing animals. It is not meant to offend anyone or take anything away from rescues. It is just my personal preference.
