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I'm so glad you adopted Lucas Lou from PAL and not from a pet shop. Conditions at pet shops are often inadequate. Dogs, cats, and rabbits are kept inside small cages with barely enough room to move and are often given no opportunity to socialise. Dogs in pet shops are usually chosen for their breed, but this is often achieved through inbreeding, which can cause severe health problems. Good luck with your book.

Hmmm...the word "rescue" made me think of something. Maybe getting a pet from a pet shop might be considered to be rescuing the animal. What life would it be facing if someone didn't take it home?

Most animals sold in pet stores come from mass-breeding facilities called puppy mills, where they are denied socialization, exercise, and veterinary care. The puppies are typically taken from their mothers at an early age, packed into crates, and trucked or flown hundreds of miles to brokers and then to pet stores, often without adequate food, water, or ventilation. Some puppies don’t survive the grueling journey.
Conditions at many pet stores are inadequate at best; at worst, they are outright abusive. Puppies are often kept in wire-bottomed cages; small animals such as mice, hamsters, gerbils, and rats are often crammed en masse into small, filthy, crowded cages; fish who were meant to swim freely in their ocean, lake, or river homes are reduced to circling the same few cubic inches of water in tanks that are often dirty and crowded; and exotic birds are typically kept in tiny cages, which prevents them from satisfying their natural needs to fly and socialize with others of their own species.  www.peta.org/issues/animal-companion-issues/pet-trade/pet-shops/

Do you know of any that don't keep the animals in cages Ken? Also my next door neighbour got a puppy from a pet shop that was very, very young. it was snatched from its mother. I heard it whimpering well into the night for days and days.

The spouse and I have been taking care of a cat that was starving when it jumped into her arms in a park [part of a swampy area with walking trails] in South Carolina. He found her in June or July of 2008.

The semi-feral cats outside our current house vary in number by season and proximity of foxes or coyotes, but we put food and water out for them [especially in winter]. Some of them want ear scratches or back rubs, some don't. Pets they aren't, more like entitled guests who believe they deserve five-star service.

There are people in San Antonio who breed and raise different flavors of cat or dog, and they're selective about who gets the little ones as shown by questionnaires and interviews for potential buyers.

If I could get a good sight-hound pair I'd go through the process, but that would mean I'd need a fenced in outside area to keep them from playing with wild hogs or chasing deer or getting lured off by coyotes. I have other clearing and projects I need to do first; one example being getting a water tank in so we have enough water pressure for the shower to work.

As I’ve said previously one shouldn’t tar everyone (everything) with the same brush.

Science and Statistics prove one can generalise and according to scientists and  vets pedigree dogs have more health problems.

"Purebred dogs not only have increased incidences of inherited diseases but also heightened health issues due to their bodily frames and shapes, such as hip dysplasia in large breeds like the German shepherd and the Saint Bernard, and patellar luxation, or persistent dislocation of the kneecap, in toy and miniature breeds.dog breeders hold the highest responsibility because they make the decisions about which dogs to mate. In the end, breeders are the ones creating the next generation of dogs." www.scientificamerican.com/article/although-purebred-dogs-can-be-best-in-show-are-they-worst-in-health/#:~:text=As%20a%20result%2C%20purebred%20dogs,