words Al Woods
Pets are always a great addition to your home. Your lovely little furry friend will give you joy and low-stress levels. People with pets can’t imagine their lives without them as they are like a family member.
After you decide on owning a pet, you have the option of getting it from a shop or going to a shelter and adopting it. People often go saying: “adopt, don’t shop.” and they have a point. Here are some of the reasons why it’s better to adopt animals and not buy them from stores.
You’ll Be Giving Your Pet a Home
Pets are like humans, they need a stable home that offers them everything they need like shelter, food, attention, and unconditional love. If you choose to adopt an animal, you’ll be offering them better circumstances that they can get in a shelter. Millions of animals per year get euthanized because there’s too many of them at shelters. So by giving your pet a home, you will be saving its life.
You Won’t Be Supporting Pet Shops
Shops keep animals in poor conditions in what is known as puppy mills. They deny them proper care and take them from their mothers before they’re old enough. Then, they breed them over and over inhumanely and then put them down when they can no longer be profitable to them. When you buy an animal from a store, you’re unintentionally supporting this animal cruelty. That’s why adoption is the better option.
You’ll Be Supporting Shelters in Need
Shelters do their best for animals but their resources can be limited sometimes. They take care of a big number of animals, feed them, and give them shelter and veterinary care. When you take an animal from a shelter, you’re saving the shelter owners, the cost of looking after it. Or you’re making space for another animal to be sheltered and taken care of in its place. Look for shelters near you when you’re looking for animals to adopt. If you search online, you will find dozens of results, so do your research before picking the shelter.
If you’re still hesitant about getting a pet, consider visiting the shelters just to play with the animals, and offer donations if you can. It will help you make up your mind and the donations will be of great aid to the shelters and the animals.
You Can Get a Trained Adult Pet
In most cases, shelter animals were once in a home. But circumstances like moving or separating, lead the owners to give them away. That means they already trained them and they are ready to live in a house. So the cat will be able to use the little box and won’t be scratching the furniture for example. A dog may be able to sit and stay, and won’t ruin your carpet.
Getting an adult pet is a good idea because they require less maintenance and less attention. For example, you can’t leave a puppy alone in the house but an adult dog can be on his own for a while. A small kitten will get stuck in small places when left alone. While it’s up to you to pick an adult or a small pet, a shelter gives you the option to do either. You will mostly find young animals in pet stores.
You’ll Be Saving Money
It’s obvious that most shelters give pets for free while pet stores charge you. So you will be saving money that you can use for other purposes like buying food for your pet or getting it vaccinated. It’s also the right thing to do because we shouldn’t put a price on animals and make ‘profit’ out of them.
You’ll Feel Proud of Yourself
Taking care of an animal is, in itself, enough reason for you to feel proud. Making the right choice to adopt it, save its life, and support animal shelters and organizations is another source of pride. Remember that a lot of people choose shopping over adopting and you could have done that too. But you chose to offer your support to a shelter animal and change its life.
Your new pet will be your companion and best friend. A shelter will have animals all sizes and shapes for you. It’s not about what the pet looks like but you can pick which breed and age are suitable for your lifestyle. Tell your family and children why you got their new friend from a shelter and not a shop. That way they can learn more about animal cruelty, and supporting shelters.
