Having a pet brings you all sorts of fantastic benefits. They make wonderful companions, have a positive impact on your health and wellbeing, plus can be a great way to teach children about compassion and responsibility. If you’ve decided that you’re able to take on the commitment of sharing your home with a cat or dog, one way to make the experience even better is to consider rehoming one from a rescue shelter rather than buying from a breeder or a pet store. Here are just a few of the reasons why you should adopt, not shop.
1. It helps to save lives
The sad truth is that animal shelters all across the country are full of unwanted and abandoned pets. There often isn’t enough room for them all, so by adopting one you’ll not only be giving that animal a second chance for a loving home, you’ll also be freeing up their space for another animal to be rescued. This in turn reduces the number of animals euthanized.
2. You’ll find a wonderful pet
People sometimes have the misconception that animals in shelters are all dangerous or badly behaved, but this is absolutely untrue. Most animals end up in shelters because their owners died, divorced, moved house, or simply decided they didn’t want a pet anymore – in other words, it’s rarely the fault of the pet. Shelter animals are almost always happy and healthy, and waiting for someone to love!
3. You can pick a pet that suits your family
When you go to a shelter, you can spend time with the different animals there to find the perfect one for you and your family. For example, the staff will be able to show you which pets are ok with children and other animals, how energetic or calm they are, and so on. So whether you’re looking for a dog you can take running or a cat who is happy at home alone during the day, a shelter is the best place to find him or her.
4. It can save you money
Unlike buying a pet, when you adopt an animal, they will have already been vaccinated, neutered or spayed, and usually even microchipped. This saves you a lot of the upfront cost of getting a pet. In addition, they are often already fully housetrained too, so you don’t have to spend money on training expenses. Plus, with the availability of affordable vets such as Easy Vet clinic, you might find owning a pet is much cheaper than you expected!
5. You won’t be supporting unethical practices
Many of the animals in pet stores and online markets come from breeders which keep animals in shockingly bad conditions, without proper medical care or love and affection. As a result, these animals often suffer from bad physical and mental health. In addition, those who are not sold or able to have more babies are usually just discarded or killed. By choosing to adopt instead of shop, you can be confident that you won’t be inadvertently giving money to such places. Instead, your money will help to save even more animals and find them happy homes.
