Gary, thank you for posting this and thank you for rescuing Rebel and giving him the good home he deserves. It's kind of ironic you posted this, as i was just discussing the shelter/overpopulation issue with dogs on another thread earlier today. I said it over there and a lot of this will mirror what i wrote earlier, but oh well. I am an animal lover, and a dog lover especially, as i truly believe they are "man's best friend". It is such a shame that the overpopulation of dogs (and cats too) has gotten as severe as it has. I always try and advocate for the adoption of animals from shelters before breeders. I have no issues with responsible educated breeders and people who buy their pets from them, only uneducated backyard breeders who have no business doing what they do. These uneducated and irresponsible "breeders" are a contributing factor, amongst other things, to the overpopulation problem. A great canine (or feline) friend and family member can come from a breeder or a shelter, the only difference is the dogs in shelters (no kill shelters excluded) are on death row a lot of the time, especially if they are (unfairly) deemed an "aggressive" breed or display aggressive traits. Almost every time the aggressive behavior is a result of human abuse or neglect, so a lot of these judgments that are essentially life or death are subjective and it is heartbreaking.
I don't want to rant and ramble on too long on your thread here, Gary, but it is a truly awesome thing you did by rescuing this little guy and this warmed my heart and made my day with you posting this thread. One of my pitbulls was very close to the death table, as she stopped eating and drinking and basically gave up on life (previously abused and found on the street). It is one of the most rewarding things in the world to take a dog within an inch of being put down and giving him/her a new and better life. I really believe they appreciate it and they know what you did for them. Dogs are a lot more intuitive and intelligent than we give them credit for.
Best of luck to you and your family's new member, Rebel and do us a favor and post pics of him from time to time. You can never have too many cute and funny dog pics (ahem, PMon)! I do not know you personally, Gary, but i'd give you the shirt off my back if i saw you in need of it, brother. What you did says a lot about the kind of person you are, IMHO, and you can tell a lot about someone by how they treat animals.
"The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated." - Mahatma Gandhi