I am going to get a kitten soon. I am a fan of Bengals, and their distinct personalities. I will likely get a Bengal from a reputable breeder, and I definitely will NOT get one from a place I believe is not reputable or has practices I don’t agree with. I’ve had 3 cats - one from a pet store (we loved him and he was a great cat) and 2 from reputable breeders. Recently I LOVED a kitten from one breeder, and was considering paying more than a reasonable amount for him, until I asked questions and realized the cat was in Europe, not even the US, despite the breeder’s website saying kittens were raised in their home, with their kids, etc.
My two dogs were from breeders, but more “backyard” breeders than “really good” breeders. (I didn’t know to ask questions at the time, and one was a gift).
I’m also considering getting a kitten from a shelter or similar, and my husband is ready to take two from a rescue organization that are a bonded pair.
Where do you get your animals, and is there a reason why?
My parents always got pure-bred collies, and we just followed their example. We got our collie from a breeder in New Hampshire. Two of our Australian shepherds came from a breeder in central Maine (the dogs are cousins and have so many physical and personality trait similarities!). Our other Aussie came from a breeder in Kentucky. The woman had moved from Maine and came recommended. Her dogs were about a fourth of the cost of our other dogs, so it was worth the trip. She met me in West Virginia for the exchange. I gave her more than she asked for since she drove for hours. He’s not as handsome as our other two, but he’s the most affectionate dog we’ve ever had. He gives good hugs! It’s wild.
I have had 3 dogs, the first I found as a stray the next two were from rescue groups- both were brought up as puppies to the mid-atlantic from shelters in the south. I got our cat from our local spca.
Current dog is from a shelter in DD’s college town. She used to do doggie dates there and found her. She was the first dog we ever went and picked out. When you live in the country, dogs tend to find you. Our prior dog just showed up at our country home one frigid night. We checked around of course, and think she may have been dumped because she had seizures.
Girl cat DH got from a radio ad from someone needing to downsize. Boy cat came from MIL’s barn. A previous boy cat came from a friend that found a kitten on the side of the road and he was the best cat.
Always shelters (or the Free Kittens box at the grocery store once). I’ve never seen any need to pay more than an adoption fee to give a kitty a loving home.
My first dog (min pin) was from a puppy store (I was 24 and clueless). She kept digging holes under the fence and was hit by a car at 8. Loved her, but not the greatest dog. My current dog was a foster of a friend, got her at 3 months old, completely housebroken, crate trained, good off leash (my first dog would take off, this one will come to a complete stop if you drop the leash). Thought she was a mini-Jack by her appearance, turns out she is a rat-chi (man could she run fast and jump high).
She’s 14, has a very large malignant tumor on her spine, so we are at the end. Fortunately I can be home with her, believe her kidneys are failing due to blood work, blood in her urine, and her inability to hold her pee that long (during the day it’s fine, I let her out whenever she want, taught her to use a wee wee pad at night last month, but she still cries to go out every hour (she was the most housebroken dog in the world, in a blizzard she’d hold it for 24 hours).
Adopt don’t shop is my soapbox, my kids are the same (my 28 year old daughter adopted a sick 5 year old car, spent $3000 on care, had to put her down in under a year, now has 2 feral kittens who are completely indoor cars).
We’ve gotten our dogs and our cats at the shelters - no judgement on pure bread purchases, I’d get a Welsh Corgi if I wanted a dog again (but they are barkers, ughhh).
We got out first kitty as a hand me down from someone who couldn’t keep her. Our second was from a great cat adoption place near here. The cat we have now (see my avatar) is our DDs Peace Corps adopted cat. We have him now.
So many great kitties needing to be adopted.
Private local no kill shelter. No longer exists. We have the county one which is very good and tries to be no kill.
I don’t have a stand either way but my wife said - with so many wonderful animals needing a home, why support a breeder ?
1st dog was a Bernese Mountain Dog from a breeder. He was a great dog, but as is common with the beeed, very unhealthy.
Next dog, who turned out to be the love of my life, was a stray that turned up. Seventeen years after he died, I still cry thinking about it.
Next dog was an English Shepherd from a breeder.
Next is Cinnamon, the reason for my CC name. He came from Tennessee via a rescue
Finally Tinkerbell, a tripod from Mexico who’s predominant breed is Chihuahua. Also from a rescue bringing dogs north.
All cats came from being dumped at my barn, or from my vet’s office. I’m in the market for a kitten this Spring, and will go through a rescue – unless one turns up, as they do.
We got our dog from a city shelter in Southern California. They are overflowing with dogs.
D got her precious kitty through the local Humane Society, they had a website where she could go through all the animals and their profiles, and knew this one was for her. 4 years later, the rest is history. 
I would have adopted our dog if my husband wasn’t allergic but we needed to be sure of pedigree. I found a reputable breeder and we made a house visit before putting the deposit to meet the parents and see the house living conditions. Too many stories of backyard breeders with questionable practices. We wanted a dog raised in a house with a family.
Cat #1: Toby, now age 13, showed up in a neighbor’s backyard when he was but a kitten. She did not like cats, so called us for help. We put Lost Kitten signs around the neighborhood and, lo and behold, got a call. However, the “owner” didn’t plan to keep him. We did.
Cat #2: Blossom, now age 7, adopted from the SPCA. I wanted an orange female tabby kitten and watched for one to show up online. We were at the SPCA to adopt immediately.
Cat #3: Ginger, probably now around age 6-7. A feral cat, though mostly still kitten at the time, showed up in the backyard pregnant. Three weeks later she gave birth to five kittens. We abducted the kittens with Ginger following most upset with us, but we managed to get kittens and Ginger in the garage. They lived there approximately 10 weeks so Ginger could care for her babies and then be spayed. I kept two kittens and Ginger. We found good homes for the other three. Ginger remains an outside cat though she stays in the garage at night: safety reasons on my part, food on her part. She loves me; I love her. She still considers other humans dangerous.
Cats #4 and 5: Opie and Polly, Ginger’s kittens, will be six in August.
Really good group one and all, all are house cats except Ginger.
My friend’s Mexican chi mix rescue, 11 years old, was mauled by their one year old golden from a breeder, in front of the entire family. They had the golden since 8 weeks.
Our first beagle was bought from a farm family and we paid $25 for him. No papers, but an amazing dog. Second dog was adopted from beagle rescue group. She had a few homes and was “ quirky “ but we loved her. Both of our dogs were very healthy and lived past 16.
I really want to adopt a senior beagle, but H doesn’t want another dog…
Beagles!! They are an acquired taste 
Our PT got their oldest dog because it was an abandoned mutt and wanted their family. They then bought a Bernese Mt Dog from a breeder who shipped them the dog. They got their 3rd dog as a young pup because a local breeder had too many and no one wanted to adopt — it’s also a Bernese Mt dog and gets along great with the other 2 dogs.
We used Petfinder.com three years ago to find a bonded pair of kittens available in our local-ish area and ended up with brother and sister Siamese mixed pair. They been the best cats ever and no breeder anywhere has had better looking kittens 
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Our first dog, a shepherd/lab and our only cat were adopted from our local SPCA. The dog had a very long life - 16.5 yrs, all but his first year with us.
Our second dog was adopted from a shelter in another county where a friend volunteered and told us about the dog (100 lb black lab mix). We had to put him down almost exactly a year ago. He was almost 14.
Our third and fourth dogs we got thru local rescues. One, a Saluki puppy was rescued with her mom and litter mates off the streets of Kuwait. The other is a 45 lb mutt that came from a shelter in Tennessee and brought to our area by a local rescue.