Not choosing the right dog, regardless if it comes from a shelter or if it is purebred, is one of the reasons why there are 2-3 million euthanized dogs every year in the USA

 

 “Nearly 40 percent of shelter and purebred dogs do not make it through their first year with their first owner, and instead are returned to their breeder, given to a shelter, euthanized or abandoned, according to statistics gathered by the U.S. Humane Society” says Stanley Coren, author "The Intelligence of Dogs," "How Dogs Think," and the "Modern Dog."

 

In my opinion, this is a greater challenge to attack rather than the controversy between shelter vs. purebred dogs. A lot of angles this topic are worth reading in yesterday’s NY Times article "Felling guilty about your purebred dog?".