Adopt a Pet From Your Local Shelter
The first thing that many people do when they want to own a pet is to go to the local pet shop and shell out tons of money the animal and equipment. Instead of buying an animal from a pet store, why not visit your local animal shelters and find an animal in need of a loving home? Not only are so many overpopulated with animals, but you can get a wonderful pet at a fraction of the cost of what you would pay at pet stores.
Animal Shelter Facts
The state of America’s animal shelters is extremely sad. Millions and millions of animals enter into our shelters every year and approximately 9.6 million are euthanized yearly. That’s roughly 64% of all animals that enter in shelters who are euthanized, with cats at a much higher level. These statistics are really sad and reflective of the fact that people make rash decisions in purchasing pets. Lots of research should be done before owning a pet and there should be no surprises. Some of the major reasons that animals end up in shelters is because they are not prepared enough to own a pet, the cost is too high or they do now own property facilities for the animal. With a little research, all of that could have been avoided.
Benefits of Adopting
There are so many benefits to adopting pets from shelters than most people realize. Let’s get into the major reason why you should adopt a pet.
Rescue an animal
With so many overcrowded and high-kill rate shelters out there, this is your opportunity to rescue an animal that might have normally be euthanized. It’s your opportunity to take an animal that have been in horrible situations and bring them into a loving home. The more animals we adopt from shelters and the less we buy from breeders or pet stores, the few animals that need to be feed. This means that the other animals currently at the shelters have a better chance of being adopted and taken better care of.
Find the Pet Just For You
There are such a variety of pets that need to be adopted, that there is no reason you can’t find a pet that is perfect for you. I have heard so many great stories about friendly and caring animals that were adopted from shelters. Many of the animals may not the “cute” or tiny as so many people seem to want, but they will mostly like be a much better fit for you. Just because you buy a little puppy or kitten from the pet store, doesn’t guarantee anything about the pet’s personality. The workers at good shelters will also have a good understanding of the pet’s personality that will make it easy to find one for you.
Save Money
Adopting a pet should not be based off of money by any means as owning a pet can be expensive. One factor that could help make it easier to adopt is lower expensive of adopting a pet. I have heard of pets being adopted for free and many in the range of $50-$300. When you adopt a pet, the animal usually has all of it’s shots and has been spayed or neutered. That’s pretty affordable considering that some dogs and cats can cost in the thousands when buying through a breeder.
Make Sure Your Ready
One thing to b sure of before buying or adopting any animal is that you are completely ready for it. Dogs in particular can be as demanding as having a small child and the expenses associated with owning an animal can sometimes be high. It’s great to adopt an animal from a shelter, but by not being prepared and possibly abandoning the animal yet again and only contribute to the problem.
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Please share you experiences with adopting a pet.
Comments
This is great advice for a number of reasons. A lot of times when you buy a animal from a pet shop, you are really supporting puppy mills, which are businesses that raise dogs in cramped and very poor condition. They shut down one by my home last year and it was amazing how poorly they treated the animals.
There are so many dogs out there, that buying one really doesn’t make sense. I have a few friends with rescue dogs, which ended up being great pets…
Thank you for this. As a volunteer at a local pet sanctuary that regularly houses over 300 cats and a variety of other animals, I totally encourage people to adopt rescue pets. I currently have 4 rescue cats myself and they are wonderful pets. I feel so fortunate to have them and so glad to have been able to offer them a forever home.
I think most people dont even know where animal shelters are located and that a nice billboard or tv commercial would help boost animal adoptions from pounds.
-Jack
Animal shelters do a great job. If you are getting an animal from a shelter you must be aware that it could have had a bad time. It might take a little while to settle down in its new home.
i have also a small cute pet cat,which i have not bought from anywhere some one is gifted it to me. his name is gugloo.
I was surprised to see that many animal come in shelters. To adopt an animal from a shelter, I think, is a noble act and at the same time we can find what we are looking for. Thanks for bringing the awareness through your article.
I definitely support the concept of this post. Too many people are instead shelling out big bucks for purebred animals that are often raised in abusive kennels. Meanwhile there are tons of adorable animals waiting for someone to save them. I got my first cat from the animal shelter. Our second cat we got through a kitten rescue organization.
Here in Austin, there is a very cool organization called Austin Pets Alive! They are completely non-profit and most of the people involved are volunteers. They set up locations all over the city (in front of Petsmart, on the main road near downtown where everyone walks around, etc). They microchip and spay/neuter all of the animals and even follow up with you after you adopt a pet. I got my puppy “Happy” there a few months ago, and I am very proud of the fact I was able to support what they are doing by adopting her. Their concept is, if you adopt one dog, you really save the lives of 2 dogs since they can go get another from the shelter. Every time I pass by one of their sites, I make sure I donate some money because the absolutely cannot go out of business.
Great post! While it doesn’t have much to do with living green, it is still a very worthwhile cause. Why spend hundreds or thousands on some purebred pet when you can rescue an adorable pet from your local shelter? The breeders often raise the animals in poor conditions just to make extra money in this high-demand industry.
I agree with you ATV, to add… My family has adopted 3 pets in the past from a animal shelter in the past, I think it’s well worth it to get an animal from the shelter, there are so many good dogs at the shelter who are in need of a good home.
Till then,
Jean
I adopted 2 wonderful dogs. One a black and tan coonhound and another lab/bloodhound. Both were around 2-3 years old at the time. I highly suggest adopting an older dog. You CAN teach an old dog new tricks. And they come potty trained (well a lot of them do)! You also know what you are getting temperment and energy level with an older dog. But heck any age adopted dog is worth saving : )