When you adopt, you save a loving animal by making them part of your family and open up shelter space for another animal who might desperately need it. By adopting a pet from an animal shelter or rescue group, you’ll help save the lives of two animals—the pet you adopt and a homeless animal that can be rescued because of space you make available.
Sadly, shelters only have a limited amount of space and are forced to make the tough decision to put down an ‘unwanted’ pet. If we adopt pets instead of buying them from a breeder, we can reduce the number of animals euthanized and give them a warm and loving home instead. Below, we look at more reasons to adopt instead of paying for a pet from a breeder.
Every current pet owner at some point officially decided that they were going to get a pet. It typically takes some time to get to this point, as bringing a pet into your family is a large commitment that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
You’re taking responsibility for another life! You should be certain that you and your family are ready for that responsibility, especially if it’s a puppy or kitten, which requires more time and attention to satisfy their growing needs.
Thinking of adding a pet to your family?
Here are top seven reasons to adopt your new best friend.
1) You’ll save a life
All animals at shelter are in need of a second chance. They have been lost, given up or abandoned. They are all unwanted and helpless. You are giving them a new life in a loving home.
Although breeders can provide you with a family pet, perhaps you should think about adoption instead. After all, an estimated 4 million cats and dogs are euthanized each year in the United States only because too many people give up their pets and not enough people adopt from an animal shelter.
2) You’ll Get a Great Pet
This will probably sound very strange to a non-animal lover but adopted animals tend to be more loving than one bought from a breeder. Many people who have bought pets from breeders and from shelters say that the ‘rescued’ animal acts more affectionately towards its master.
This could be because of a ‘sixth sense’ of knowing you saved them or else they know their life is much better now than in the past. Either way, it feels wonderful. Animal shelters and rescue groups have plenty of healthy, well-behaved animals waiting for a home. Most shelters examine and vaccinate animals when they arrive, and many shelters spay or neuter them before adoption.
It is a common belief that animals end up in shelters because they were abused or behaved badly. In truth, most animals in shelters are there because of “people reasons”: divorce, moving, lack of time, and financial constraints are among the most common reasons why pets lose their homes. Adopted pets are just as loving, intelligent, and loyal as purchased pets.
3) It’ll cost you less or nothing
Adopting a pet from an animal shelter is much less expensive than buying a pet at a pet store or through other sources. When you look for an animal from a pet breeder, you can be sure that you’ll be forced to pay top dollar.
While the shelter also charges a fee (it needs money to stay open), the cost is far lower. Additionally, you will be buying a pet that is healthy and well looked after as they tend to have been spayed/neutered and vaccinated by the shelter. As any pet owner will tell you, this can be an expensive process so you have saved time and money almost immediately.
Usually when you adopt a pet, the cost of spay/neuter, first vaccinations (and sometimes even microchipping!) is included in the adoption price, which can save you some of the up front costs of adding a new member to your family. Depending on the animal, you may also save on housebreaking and training expenses.
4) You’re Likely to Have a Support System
Most pet stores don’t provide any support if you have questions or problems with your new pet. However, rescue groups do provide support for new owners because keeping pets in good homes is in the best interest of these groups. When you adopt a pet, you will be rescuing them from a grim fate, you will not be supporting mills and you will receive a grateful pet that will love you for as long as it lives.
People who work at the shelter will be a great resource to help you find information or resources for your pet. Their staff members work with animals every day and have a wealth of information on many different issues.
5) Stopping Puppy Mills
What most people don’t know is that those adorable little puppies they see at their local pet stores were probably raised in a puppy mill. If you don’t know what a puppy mill is, it’s a facility where dogs are bred so that breeders are able to bring in as much profit form offspring as possible.
The moms of these puppies are kept in cages to be bred over and over for years, without human companionship and with little hope of ever joining a family. And after they’re no longer profitable, breeding dogs are simply discarded—either killed, abandoned or sold at auction.
If you buy a dog from a pet store,online seller or flea market, you’re almost certainly getting a dog from a puppy mill. Puppy and kitten mills are factory-style breeding facilities that put profit above the welfare of animals.
Most animals raised in these mills are housed in poor conditions with improper medical care. They are often in poor health and have ongoing behavior and health problems due to lack of human companionship and inbreeding. Mill animals are sold to unsuspecting consumers in pet stores, over the Internet, and through newspaper classified advertisements.
By adopting instead of buying a pet, you can be certain that you aren’t supporting puppy or kitten mills. Adopting a shelter animal means you don’t support such cruel practices.
6) Adoption helps more than just one animal
Not only do animals give you unconditional love, but they have been shown to be psychologically, emotionally and physically beneficial to their companions. Caring for a pet can provide a sense of purpose and fulfillment and lessen feelings of loneliness. And when you adopt, you can also feel proud about helping an animal in need!
Overburdened shelters take in millions of stray, abused and lost animals every year, and by adopting an animal, you’re making room for others. Not only are you giving more animals a second chance, but the cost of your adoption goes directly towards helping those shelters better care for the animals they take in!
7) You help break the cycle of pet overpopulation
There are not enough homes for all the animals that are born every year. Adopting from a shelter helps weaken the pet overpopulation cycle. Each year 8 to 12 million dogs, cats, puppies and kittens are euthanized because there are simply not enough homes for them.
You encourage others to adopt animals from shelters. When your friends ask where you got your amazing pet, you can tell them “at the shelter.” Your adoption may encourage others to do the same.
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Stay safe and much love !
