Getting or Looking for a pet can be difficult and stressfull. Often times people want it to be easier and go to stores that sell pets or breeders that sell pets so they can go, scoop up a dog, and let it be that easy. Some people make it a little more difficult and look through lists of reputablie breeders, shelters, and rescues. In getting a companion you should do loads of reasearch. One of the biggest questions asked is: “Should we buy or adopt?” shortly followed by, “Why?”. Adopting is often times more encouraged and for good reason. Here are 5 reasons why you should adopt and not shop.
1. You Save Multiple Lives
When you adopt from a shelter or a public/private rescue you impact three lives; the animal you’re adopting, the one on the street that now has an open space in a shelter, and your own. Adopting has a chain reaction effect. You rescue one animal which opens a spot in a shelter for another in need, who will then be adopted into a loving happy family who will pay it forward. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. Pet stores and breeders make a profit off of each animal sold, and yes, there are adoption fees, but those do not go toward the shelter, that goes toward saving more animals. Millions of dogs and cats are euthanized in the United States every year because of the amount of animals that come into shelters. These numbers could be reduced if more people adopted.
2. Vetting and Training
Often times when you adopt, your fee (if your dog is a puppy or young) will go toward spaying/neutering your pet as well as their vet checks and shots. But, the plus side of adopting an adult dog (2-16 years) is that they come already vetted as well as spayed/neutered. The shelters also work on training your pet. They work on leash training, crate training, and potty training the longer the animal is in the shelter. Most shelter/rescue dogs are both vetted and trained. This also saves you on some upfront costs. Also, many shelter dogs are mixed-breed dogs, which saves you vetting costs in the future because they have less of a chance of inheriting genetic health problems specific to certain breeds.
3. The Costs
Breeders and animal stores will charge you an arm and a leg for an animal because they typically look for pure-bred animals or designer breed animals (i.e. goldendoodles). They can charge you anywhere in the high hundreds to a couple thousand depending on the parentage of the animal (i.e if they come from champion bloodlines). This money goes into their pockets. Rescues and shelters have adoption fees, but that goes to vetting the other shelter dogs, providing enough food and supplies for the shelter to continue doing good work, and vetting your animal, with the possible option of mircochipping your animal. The costs of shelters go to help save more lives where as the money you pay for a beeder or animal shop will not benefit any other animals.
4. Fights Puppy Milling
If you are a dog person, you’ve heard the phrase “puppy mill” before. Not all breeders are puppy mills, but often times those puppies you find at the pet store? Those are puppy mill dogs, sold for profit. Their mothers and fathers are basically bred in horrible conditions until they physically cannot breed anymore or die. It’s sad. People often say “I got a puppy mill dog, but I saved it from a worse life” and they did, but puppy milling is an endless cycle. You saved one dog, but that mother is going to be bred again, and the puppy you saved will be replaced with another improperly bred dog. Also, some mills inbreed to save on costs and boost their profits. Puppy mill parents are bred factory style. Adopting an animal helps resuce dogs from mills as well as pulls the support away from puppy mills. By adopting you won’t be giving mills a dime of your money or time.
5. Unconditional Love and Gratitude
Animals have a magical way of pawing themselves into our hearts. They love you just as much as you love them, and all you had to do was give them a second chance by adopting them. They won’t ask you for the world, just your love. People are always searching for the “perfect” pet, but often times the perfect pet is sitting in a shelter, behind cages and kennels, with sad eyes just wanting to be snuggled up with a human in warm blankets and watching netflix. Just because an animal is a shelter animal doesn’t mean they are violent or something is wrong with them. Often it means that their families couldn’t afford to keep them or they were abandoned. If you have space in your heart left to give to another living being, please check your local shelters and rescues today. Don’t be afraid to give someone a second chance at a life of love.