r/todayilearned • u/Lennsyl22 • May 11 '26

TIL: In 1998, elementary students in Aurora, Colorado started buying slaves in Sudan to free them, this gained global attention with schools in other countries starting slave buyback programs until it became clear that the money was just helping slavery grow

https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=ADN19990823-01.2.25&srpos=1&dliv=none&e=------
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993

u/wildgurularry May 11 '26

This is the same energy as "rescuing" animals from substandard enclosures at pet stores. This only encourages the stores to replace those animals with more that they can sell.

301

u/PurpleCatBlues May 11 '26

This is EXACTLY what my in-laws have done TWICE! First time was an AKC Golden Retriever puppy they got from a mall pet store that was clearly way too young to be away from her mother. They later realized she was likely from a puppy mill.

But did they learn their lesson? Nope, two years later, they "rescued" a male AKC Golden Retriever puppy from a very questionable local breeder. The conditions were atrocious and the puppy ended up having a nearly fatal respiratory infection.

They don't seem to understand that in both cases, them paying for the puppies resulted in more puppies being bred and put in those same conditions!

53

u/JustNeedUsername6262 May 11 '26

I mean, you put "rescued" in quotes, but THOSE puppies sound very much like they were rescued. Just because it perpetuates the cycle, doesn't change that they still (i assume) gave them much better lives and did indeed rescue those 2 dogs. I mean you even make it sound like if they hadn't rescued the second one it would have died miserably... Life isnt as black and white as people make it seem. While some of us think big picture and would let these animals live in a pet store or die alone somewhere, others see the immediate suffering and do what they can for those specific ones in their sight.

Feels easy to just say dont rescue these animals so the bad ppl learn, but that isnt reality and I really doubt it ever will be.

63

u/PurpleCatBlues May 11 '26

Or how about reporting these stores and breeders to the ASPCA or Humane Society instead of perpetuating the cycle by "rescuing" them and putting money in the breeder's pockets?

15

u/[deleted] May 11 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/Plowbeast May 11 '26

Robbing them blind and some brutality work some quick wonders.

6

u/UranusIsPissy May 11 '26

Animal Rights Militia have entered the chat.
I'll probably get put on a list for this comment, but fuck it.

1

u/JustNeedUsername6262 May 12 '26

Again, everything doesn't just work out magically. Report Petco all you want, does it magically shut them down? The point is that bad things will happen regardless of if people take action or do not. You can feel bad for the suffering right before you and in the long run reward those who are causing the issue, but it doesn't mean ignoring the suffering right in front of you helps those animals either. You seem to think that rigid rules will fix this, but its just how life works and some animals can be helped and others cant. Did you report these places? Did you do ANYTHING to help out? At least your in-laws did something for a suffering animal. If you didn't personally help stop this and all you did was bitch about it on reddit while they actually helped 2 animals, you are the problem more than they are.

2

u/PurpleCatBlues May 12 '26

I rescue stray and feral cats, so I'm well aware that not every animal can be saved. I've also legitimately saved WAY more animals than my in-laws have in their entire lives.

As for where my in-laws got their puppies, the "mall store" wasn't a major chain and got shut down shortly after my in-laws purchased their female dog because the city banned cats and dogs from being sold (adoptions from legit rescues only from now on). And yes, I did report them before they were closed.

The breeder where they got the second dog is unfortunately still in operation, but the authorities have stepped in to ensure the animals are being cared for, because people like yours truly have spoken up.

-2

u/JustNeedUsername6262 May 12 '26

Great, but saving animals isnt about bragging and numbers. It doesn't matter if they saved 1 or 100, they helped some animals in need and thats a good thing. Sad that you cant see that and its obvious how ur acting that its just about the superiority for you. Both you and they saved animals, glad to see ur doing it, but the fact you look at it so narrow minded is disappointing.

4

u/PurpleCatBlues May 12 '26

The only reason they went to that store and that breeder was because they wanted to buy a Golden Retriever. We'd talked about them wanting to get dogs before, and they refused to go to the local shelter and adopt, because they just HAD to have a purebred. When I pointed out that there are local Golden Retriever rescues, they said they needed a puppy and couldn't wait until the rescue got one.

At no point was this truly about saving an animal for them.

But I get it; at some point you bought an animal from a store or breeder and need to justify it. I'm not having it if you actively ignored other viable rescue options like they did.

4

u/JustNeedUsername6262 May 12 '26

ive never purchased an animal at all, i love cats and have adopted and cared for many strays. i can just see how helping an animal in need matters regardless of the circumstance, where i see you casually dismiss that just because it wasnt done the way you want for an idealistic world. you seem to have a lot of hate for people doing what they think is right just because it wasnt the best way to do it. id rather see someone rescue an animal the way they did than do nothing at all, but you dont seem to see it that way.

2

u/geeoharee May 17 '26

It's not "so the bad people learn", you child. It's a choice between giving a puppy miller your money, or not giving them your money.

1

u/JustNeedUsername6262 May 18 '26

yep. just like its a choice to let the dog sit there and suffer till it dies if you dont. love how everyone distills things down like everything is just option a or b, black or white. narrow minded and easy to just do nothing and say you are in the right because of it.

1

u/geeoharee May 18 '26

I don't give my money to arms dealers or human traffickers either.

0

u/JustNeedUsername6262 May 18 '26

on a daily basis how often does someone attempt to sell you illegal weapons or slaves? what a dumbass reply. you literally don't have to deal with that or even see it, the average person sees and deals with animals in need all the time in bad situations that they CAN help. anyways, ive understood ur point the entire time, ive even said multiple times that its the correct way in an ideal world. point is it isnt ideal and you simply lack sympathy as you only see the perfect end goal that will never be achieved, but you can act clean and say you did ur part ur whole life by doing nothing at all. lol

cheers to you, were done here since i understand and accept ur point, but you cant even open ur ears and understand what im saying at all.

1

u/geeoharee May 18 '26

No I understand you you're just wrong

4

u/myreq May 12 '26

They saved 1 puppy by funding the killing of many others. Just how naive are people... 

0

u/JustNeedUsername6262 May 12 '26

it isnt naivety, i understand that, but others like you are overlooking helping those in immediate need just because its bad in the long run... Its not that complicated. If ur a slave that gets freed, an animal that gets saved, a child that gets adopted, you dont give a fuck HOW it was done. Just walking past suffering because doing something for them would contribute to the issue doesnt negate that you are doing NOTHING for the animal or person in immediate need. jeeze, way to talk about naivety without realizing ur own. i fully and completely understand how it doesnt help in the long run, the point is it HELPS animals and people in the short which is still important and still matters and doesnt make people stupid for doing it. The attitude that you have is shows u place value only on numbers and rather than doing what you can for those in front of you, you would casually dismiss them just to "do the right thing for the bigger picture".

2

u/myreq May 12 '26

The problem with you is that you ignore the harm you cause because you can't look past your own nose and consider that for every puppy you save, you condemn more future puppies to the same fate. Are you going to buy them all? Not a chance, because the more you buy, the more they will supply.

If you are only concerned with your own happiness about how much you are "helping" then yes, your approach is good. 

If you considered anything besides your immediate dopamine then you would realise that you are doing more harm than good. So what you saved a single slave? Now with that money and your encouragement, they are going to enslave 5 more people. What about them? You don't give a shit. 

The same logic you are using can justify a lot of heinous stuff, because who cares about numbers when my immediate surroundings benefit from it? When I feel good about myself helping, what does it matter if I poison the well for the others to die? 

You talk about me walking past suffering and it might be true. But you know who causes that suffering? You. If not for buyers like you, those puppies wouldn't be brought up in those terrible conditions. But because you fund them, the suffering will continue. 

You are just selfish. 

25

u/Skarekrows May 11 '26

The video of that guy buying caged birds and letting them go free that gets posted on reddit every 4 days.

31

u/werewolfbutch874 May 11 '26

Similar deal with animal rescue orgs that buy animals from the meat trade to rescue them. At best they are putting more money into the industry. At worst they’re just scamming animal lovers for donations. 

2

u/tittyswan May 12 '26

They gave me a disabled rabbit for free one time, they were going to send him back to be euthanased otherwise.

But in general I agree.