After writing a comment on a couple of terms people had used a post, I got to thinking about other words that people who support adoption/rescue and especially no-kill should be very careful about using. Words that allow us to feel good, when we don't want to deal with reality. Some people who buy puppies from stores think they are "rescuing" the puppy from deplorable conditions and being neglected in the store cage. "Rescue" should never be used in that context, because it will confuse people about true rescue work, which is getting dogs out of deplorable conditions WITHOUT rewarding the person who perpetrated that condition. That is why I have such mixed feelings about the sale of Puppy Haven to the H.S. in Wisconsin, but that's beside the point.

"Adoption" is another one. People who get their dogs from pet stores or breeders don't "adopt" them. They buy them. When an animal is adopted the only money exchanged is to reimburse the rescuing individual or agency for their expenses in their care for that animal (or the animals they rescue in general). Adoption is giving a home to an animal that needs one, not creating the incentive for another animal to be born.

The other biggie is the "E" word - euthanasia. I have sworn not to use this word with reference to ending the life of a healthy or curable adoptable animal, or a healthy or curable feral. Euthanasia is ONLY the ending of life to prevent imminent, severe and incurable suffering, to be done only out of mercy. Anything else is just killing. If people had to say "kill" every time they talked about ending the life of a puppy or kitten, they might think twice about the purpose behind it, the circumstances that led up to it.