Labradoodle Auction

[charmingnancy]

We recently discussed "designer dogs" in another post, and how people are selling mixed breed dogs at purebred prices. This story is on the front page of the Evansville (Indiana) Courier and Press newspaper today
www.courierpress.com/news/2008/may/12/rocky-auction-how-a-labradoodle-cameto-help-girl/

To make this long story short, this family got this dog for $1,300 at an auction, although they didn't want to pay more than $600 (which is ridiculous already). The other $700 came from another family. The whole point is that this mutt was sold for waaaaaaaaaaaay too much money. I know the money was for charity (the Albion Fellows Bacon Center is for women and children who are victims of assault and domestic violence), but this is a friggin dog we're talking about. $1,300... that's a down payment on a nice car.

[lilredridinghood]

I'm sure another breed of dog or a shelter dog would have also helped her deal with her autism just fine.

[DogGoneGood]

I agree. Dogs can be SO great for autistic kids to open up and so many other things (I've seen it with my own eyes and even looked into a group in Canada that trains service dogs specifically for autism)... but it's NOT necessary to spend that much money and/or support these "designer breeds" for this purpose. Yes the dog has to have a good disposition and the propper training to boot, but a regular Poodle or Lab would or a plain "Lab/Poodle Mix" would do the job just fine with a lot less cost (and publicity :.

[Sit Kitty]

I think it's disgusting that anyone would spend $1300 on one dog.

You can get a perfectly good dog or puppy at almost ANY local shelter for an adoption fee of about $100-$200 that would have served the autistic child just as well. There is nothing special about that particular puppy.

This grosses me out. It's just a common mutt with a fancy name and that money could have gone to a much better use, like supplies for a shelter or feeding like a thousand starving kids somewhere for a whole year.

They throw the word "autism" in there and all of a sudden it's ok to needlessly blow $1300 on a single untrained dog. The dog better be made of GOLD for that price. It's ridiculous.

Stupid stupid stupid.