"And I just did a search on Petfinder for Vermont, I only checked the numbers of the public shelters in each county, but they seem to have an abundance of dogs available for adoption (approx. 200), and not just pit mixes either. I saw plenty of WFD's and small breeds (plus a strange amount of hounds, a breed you wouldn't ordinarily see in the north, which tells me a lot)."
I'm not sure what point you are trying to make. Are you acknowledging that those hounds are southern transports (I'm sure most are), or assuming that every dog listed in Vermont is local? I pulled up the rescue I help with's page, and of the 19 dogs, 3 are local, the rest are from southern transports. So, should they only offer those three dogs until there are none available? That JRT isn't going anywhere anytime soon. And my dog Meg should have been dropped in a hole and shot (the way dogs were "euthanized" until not too long ago in the shelter she came from in WV)? I'd still be waiting for a dog, because of the local ones that have come in over the past 2 years, not a single one would have filled my needs. I can think of four transports, including the one I took, that I would have taken. To me, a dog saved is a dog saved. Whether it came to me from West Virginia, New York, the other end of the world, or running loose in my town.
As I said in my first post, I'm NOT arguing that there isn't a pet overpopulation problem in the country; I'm arguing that there are PARTS of the country that do not have enough adoptable dogs available, and that there is absolutely nothing wrong with bringing dogs who would otherwise die from overcrowded areas to areas that have homes available.