8 Reasons to Adopt a Pet Rather than Buy ...

With the connections that I have in animal rescues all over the country, I see again and again the high numbers of cats and dogs in need of a home, and how difficult it is to find enough homes for them. Every adoption means one lucky animal gets a home, and another the chance to be promoted.

There are good breeders, and there are those who are only in it for the money. Many animals are bred without care for character and health problems, and the mothers forced to have litter after litter. Plus, the more animals that are specially bred, the less chance that an abandoned animal has of being homed.

It breaks my heart to see kittens and puppies shut up in perspex cages, without room to play. If people refused to buy animals kept in these conditions, then pet shops would be forced to end the practice. Adopt from a shelter instead.

Since many pedigree pets end up in shelters, if you want a particular breed you can still give a home to an animal that needs one. Just make sure that you understand its needs.

It’s a dead cert that as soon as an animal in a shelter is adopted, another one is waiting to take its place. Sometimes the rescue centres are so saturated that they simply cannot take in any more animals, even those in desperate need. So each adoption helps to reduce pressure on shelters.

Shelters will take care to match a prospective owner with an animal that suits their situation and lifestyle. After all, it is not in their interest for an adoption to fail. Rather, they want to make sure that there is a low chance of the pet being returned.

Some animals are for sale simply because the owner was careless enough not to have the mother neutered. Other, so-called professional breeders are unscrupulous and will sell someone a cute puppy, knowing full well that it has problems. Shelters have the animal’s interests at heart.

Adopting from one of these shelters means that an animal who has been abandoned not only finds a family, but doesn’t risk being PTS (a policy I am against for healthy animals). The numbers are simply horrendous – healthy animals PTS simply because nobody wants them.

Have you ever bought an animal – did it turn out well, or did you have any reason to regret it? Or would you always adopt?

Top Photo Credit: S Alex Maier