rescuing is great and all - but I definitely do not (and will not) feel guilty from purchasing from a breeder. I'd also do it again for my own personal reasons, but also I love a Rex, and having handled many many rabbits they're the only ones who didn't flare up my allergies. finding a rex in a shelter is hard - initially I looked for a friend for Luna.
but sadly for as many good breeders as there are, there are bad breeders. the ones who only see ££ so they keep rabbits in poor and horrible conditions. small cramped cages and so on. I wouldn't call them breeders but instead back yard breeders. there isn't much difference with how they treat and care for their animals. but there are also many good breeders, who give their rabbits ample of room, a same sex friend and so fourth. whether you want to argue that "any breeder is a bad breeder!" (which is pretty generalising and judgemental) - a breeder who treats their rabbits with care and meets their needs is better than a breeder who doesn't.
I wouldn't touch PAH with a barge pole though. all of their animals are sourced from one huge plant and shipped down across the country. its not like that the overall company cares about the animals, the staff often do, but the overall company just sees number. generally the animals aren't handled anyway, making for a difficult process with taming. esp if you get one that is older around 12 weeks or so.
PAH is just one huge chain BYB in reality.
