I won't bore you all with my reply to the rescue. I wrote it out, thought about it, edited it, thought about it, edited it, then sent it off. I touched on the following:
* My personal dog ownership experience.
* My experience in rescues.
* The reason why my dog is intact, including a link to a UC Davis article regarding waiting to spay/neuter your large dog.
* The fact that the vast majority of dogs in shelters are not from responsible, ethical breeders.
* What breeders and breed clubs do behind the scenes -- from breeding the healthiest (physically and mentally) dogs they can, to raising funds for rescue and cancer research, to public education.
* How good breeders screen their puppy owners -- it's not spontaneous, references, limited registrations, etc.
* If good breeders ceased to exist, what would happen to the breeds we love?
* I also pointed out the ASPCA's stance in that they don't tell people not to buy, but they say that if you can't find what you are looking for in a shelter or rescue and decide on a puppy, how to find a good breeder and how to spot a bad breeder.
* I invited her to a breed club event and a dog training club event so she can see for herself the level of responsible pet ownership, especially amongst intact purebred dogs (I know of very few dogs in my club that were the result of rescue nor do I remember ever seeing a mixed breed), and to talk to the members to find out for herself all the ways that nearly every one of them advocates for their breed and supports rescue. I also told her she was doing a disservice by not networking with these clubs (they do all-breed dog rescue, too).
* And, finally, (I had to throw this in) I told her that I would just adopt a kitten from my trainer, who has four dogs of her own (three are intact as they do conformation as well as obedience), three foster dogs from puppymills, runs two breed rescues, and is holding onto three kittens she got out of a feral situation. Even though I really wanted to adopt an adult.