Have you and your family been considering adding a dog or cat to the family but aren’t sure where to go? Well, you’re in luck. We have the answer. The best place to adopt a new furry friend is your local animal shelter. There are numerous reasons adopting from a shelter is the best option, but for the sake of this article, we’ll run through some of the best reasons.
1. You Can Save a Life
While shelter staff do all they can to meet the needs of the animals in their care, the simple truth is that there aren’t enough people to give each animal the love and attention they deserve. On top of that, shelters only have so much space and so many resources, and unfortunately, many pets are euthanized each year because of this. Adopting a pet from a shelter frees up space for another animal who might desperately need it.
2. You Help Fight Puppy and Kitten Mills
If you buy a dog from a pet store, the chance that you are getting a dog from a puppy mill is extremely high. If you aren’t familiar with the term, a puppy mill is a factory-style breeding facility that puts sales and profit above the health and welfare of the dogs. The dogs are often malnourished, have not received proper medical care, and have typically not been fixed.
Puppy mills are only able to continue their nefarious practices if the demand remains. If more people simply adopted happy, healthy animals from shelters, we could put an end to puppy mills for good.
3. You’ll Save Money
If we have yet to convince you why adopting from a shelter is the best option, consider this. In most shelters, the cost of spaying or neutering, vaccinations, microchipping, and more is included in the adoption price, which can save you lots of money upfront.
On top of that, many shelter animals are already house trained, which can save you from needing to get additional dog training services.
4. You Have More Options
Because of the number of animals shelters receive each year, you can be sure there will be an animal that is right for you. Most people are attracted to the cuteness of puppies and kittens, but older dogs and cats actually have benefits that might intrigue certain individuals. Perhaps you are more laid back and don’t necessarily want to deal with the energy a puppy has. Older dogs are just as in need of a happy home as the young ones.
5. You Support an Important Charity and Institution
If shelters no longer needed to exist because all the animals out there had found loving homes, that would be a great day. Unfortunately, that is not the reality. Every community in America is in need of an animal shelter and most are not-for-profit organizations run by people who simply love animals. We appreciate these people and we hope you do too. You can show your appreciation and also help out yourself by adopting a new friend today!
Special Thanks to Michael's Pack
We want to thank Michael’s Pack for creating this amazing post for us. You can learn a little bit more about them by clicking the link below. The team at Michael’s Pack uses only humane, positive-reinforcement training methods. No fear-based training. They focus on not only training your dog but teaching owners how to best communicate with their dogs and help them overcome common behavioral issues.
