I have so many bones to pick with you—please don't take this adversarially, but you are broadcasting a position on an important moral question, and I think some of your ideas and beliefs deserve to be re-examined.
> Shelters are only really active in North America and a few European countries.
I'm not sure where you got this idea, but I live in Asia (Taiwan) and can tell you for a fact that there are plenty of active shelters here and all through this side of the globe, both volunteer- and government-operated. Further, common sense tells me that there must be shelters anywhere there's an animal control department that doesn't immediately euthanize the dogs they catch. In any case, I'd hope to change your mind about breeders even if there were no shelters in your area.
> Everyone else simply buys from the best breeders
This is another really peculiar claim to stand behind. If people only adopt from shelters or buy from the best breeders, what are the so-so breeders doing? What about puppy mills? They account for a lot of the dogs that wind up in shelters in Taiwan (or, more precisely, their well-meaning but capricious customers do).
> It’s good to know people “rescue” or “adopt” dogs from shelters and their payment in exchange for dogs isn’t considered “buying”
This is the heart of what I want to discuss, though. There's a significant distinction between adopting a shelter dog and buying from a breeder, and this distinction is where the moral question lies:
Shelters are not in the business of producing more dogs. They are in the business of managing the human-induced problem of transient dog populations.
Breeding is part cultural practice, part commercial endeavor. I have no criticism of the cultural practice, and I think it's wonderful that there are long lineages of majestic, purebred dogs out there. But if you truly love dogs, and I mean truly love them, not _like_ family but _as_ family, then you must concede that they are all equally deserving of a home.
There is a finite supply of dog stewardship out there in the world, and it is truly dwarfed by the demand for it. Breeders manufacture more demand; shelters do not. When you say "yes" to a breeder, you aren't just saying "no" to a shelter dog. You are agreeing to raise the overall demand while keeping the supply constant. More than that, you're sponsoring it.
Stray dogs are refugees in this manufactured world of ours, clamoring for asylum. There's a _lot_ more of them then there are visas to go around, and we're paying somebody to make new refugees because these ones suit our preferences better. The ones that don't make it are literally killed and thrown into a furnace.
Please please please reconsider your stance on breeders. Of course, I understand. Breeder dogs are prettier. More impressionable. Easier to train. They don't come with baggage. You don't have to adopt the worst shelter dog out there; I guarantee that somewhere out there, there's a shelter dog that's right for you. It might be more work, but if you love dogs, don't you think they deserve it?