All mutts are not rescues

One thing I often hear when someone meets my dog is “What kind is he?”

“I don’t know, he’s a mutt.”

Then, a common response is: “Aww, he’s a rescue. That’s so great of you.”

I’m glad when people support adopting shelter mutts, but just because my dog is a mutt does not mean he was “rescued.” It does not mean he was abused. It does not mean he spent time in a shelter or was on death row. It does not even mean he came from an accidental litter (goldendoodle, anyone?).

I got my mutt through Adopt-A-Pet of Fargo-Moorhead. So if you look at it that way, I did “rescue” him. But I like to say I adopted him. More accurately, I rescued his previous owner!

Ace’s first family never turned him over to a shelter or a foster family. Instead they posted his profile on Adopt-A-Pet and kept him until they found him a new home (me). This mutt has spent one night behind bars in his life, and that was when I paid to leave him at a boarding kennel.

So, in some ways I did “rescue” Ace, but I think that is giving me too much credit. I just wanted a dog. Sometimes people cling to the idea that they “rescued” their dogs, almost playing up the drama to make themselves feel better. I don’t think we need another reason to be emotionally attached to our dogs. It isn’t always healthy for the dog or the human.

And of course, “rescues” are not always mutts.

Many purebred dogs have spent time at a shelter or pound. Many come from puppy mills, accidental litters and abusive situations in one way or another. Thousands of purebred dogs are euthanized every year because of behavioral problems or a lack of resources or space to keep them.

And just as I hear people make inaccurate comments about mutts, I also hear them making comments about “all these purebred” dogs and how “it’s a shame more people don’t adopt from shelters.”

These people are missing a very big point. Many of the purebred dogs we see are living with their second or third family. There are plenty of mutts that need good homes, but purebred dogs are waiting for good homes, too.