Soooo.....

[Jazz Mayhem]

Wouldn't buying piglets from Petco count as rescuing them?

[Jenni_Feathers]

No, not at all, that would be supporting petco and giving them money.

[FoolOnTheHill]

It might seem like rescuing - after all, you'd be giving that piggy a great life if you bought him, but think of the pig that will be ordered to replace him. You won't rescue him, and even if you did, what about all the other pigs that follow? It'd be a neverending cycle. You're giving the store money which they'll use to order more, which they'll be giving to breeders that keep their pigs in awful conditions.

If you adopt a piggy from a real rescue though, you'll be giving that piggy a home and in return opening up a spot for them to save another needy GP. You'll also give them some money to fund their work - you win all round!

Have you read around the site - especially the stickies here in The Kitchen and in the Philosophies section? I think they'll help you understand a bit more about rescuing/breeding.

[Jazz Mayhem]

Excellent point, touch[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]é[/SIZE][/FONT]

[ctinaw]

Good question though! I thought the same thing before I actually stopped and thought/learned what buying one actually means and how it impacts their business, the breeder and all of the other pigs. I always feel badly looking at the pigs in those stores so I really just have to avoid those stores as much as possible.

The white pig in my avatar photo was a pet store pig - purchased before I learned better. A couple weeks ago I went into petco to get some frozen fish food and had to walk by the pigs to check them out. There were a few who were still there from when I bought my pig. I felt horrible for them. One in particular was one I had held when "choosing" which one I'd take home. Now I think about Linny's life and that poor pig's life and the constrast between the two. Trust me - I had to leave rather quickly just from the guilt. In a way it's a good thing that they are still there though. That means people have not been buying them - and that the breeder is making less money and hopefully breeding less pigs. But it still makes me feel really badly for that poor pig - that almost could have come home with me just as easily as mine did - and instead she is stuck there in that wreched cage with wretched employees who couldn't care less about her.

[VoodooJoint]

Here is a post that helps explain the difference between rescue, adoption and buying http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/...-adopting.html