ADOPT- DON’T SHOP

By MEGAN FICO

MEGAN FICO FOR THE WIZARD WEEKLY

In many households across the United States, people have animals as pets.  While there is a wide variety of animals to chose from, the most common pets are cats and dogs.  Many people treat their pets like their children, while some might even like their pets more than they like their own children.  Animals are just as important to this world as are people, and their safety and well being should always be considered.  

When people are looking to get a new furry friend for their home, there are many options to consider.  Shopping in a pet store, however, should never be one of those options.  Many pet stores get their puppies from puppy mills, which according to the ASPCA, “is a large-scale commercial dog breeding facility where profit is given priority over the well-being of the dogs.”  

At these puppy mills, dogs are often kept in cages with wire flooring that injures their paws and legs—and it is not unusual for cages to be stacked in columns.  When female breeding dogs reach a point of physical depletion and can no longer reproduce, they are often killed because the puppy mills see them as “useless.” 

Since puppy mills focus on profit, dogs are often bred with little regard for genetic quality.  Puppy mill puppies are prone to congenital and hereditary conditions including heart disease and blood and respiratory disorders.  In addition, these puppies often arrive in pet stores and in their new homes with diseases or infirmities ranging from parasites to pneumonia.  Because puppies are removed from their litter-mates and mothers at a young age, they also often suffer from fear, anxiety and other behavioral problems.  

Because so many of these breeders are operating without oversight, it is impossible to accurately track them or know how many there truly are.  The ASPCA estimates that “there could be as many as 10,000 puppy mills in the United States,” and they “encourage everyone to make adoption their first option.”  

A rescue dog smiles at his forever friend.

According to Kathleen Summers, director of outreach and research for the Puppy Mills Campaign, even looking to buy an animal from a pet store helps prop up the puppy mill industry, because pet stores separate "the consumer from the reality of where mass-produced puppies come from.”

There is a popular phrase that says “dogs are a man’s best friend” and dogs can really be someone’s best friend when they are given the opportunity to do so by being in a loving home.  Adopting a pet from a shelter will save that animal and give it a second chance to find a family.  Many shelter animals are also already house trained, since most of them come from families who were no longer able care for them.  

By adopting animals from shelters, their lives are being saved.  According to the Humane Society, “The number of euthanized animals could be reduced dramatically if more people adopted pets instead of buying them.  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.”  

Not only does adopting an animal from a shelter help that one in particular, it makes room for another animal who does not have a home.  This gives more animals the chance to have their lives turned upside down, in the best way possible.  Many shelters also spay and neuter animals before adoption, saving adopters hundreds of dollars. In addition, rescue animals are often microchipped and vaccinated, which can cost up to $60 and $150.  Adoption fees include initial veterinary costs as well.

All in all, it is less expensive to adopt an animal from a shelter, and it has more benefits for the animal and people adopting than buying an animal from a pet store would.  Adopting a pet from a shelter will save that animal’s life and bring someone to their new furry friend.