Every year, six to eight million dogs wait to be adopted from animals shelters — so many that millions are euthanized each year due to overcrowding, according to PETA.
Adopting makes the marketplace less available to puppy mills
They may be cute, but those wiggly little pups in pet stores often come from puppy mills, where they live in unsanitary, overcrowded conditions.
Many shelter animals are already housetrained
One of the big myths about shelter pets is that all of them have behavioral issues or have been rescued from abuse. Many shelter animals, however, end up there because their owners can no longer care for them.
Shelter animals are often healthier than animals bought elsewhere
Animals undergo full physicals when they are brought to a shelter and many shelters have veterinary clinics on site to treat any medical issues that arise. Shelter staff makes sure animals are in top shape before they are ready to be adopted into a new home.
Adopting a shelter animal is cheaper than buying from a breeder
The financial cost of adopting a shelter animal is almost always less than purchasing an animal from a breeder.
Plesset, Emilie, and Eric Jankiewicz. "Why You Should Adopt a Shelter Animal."NBC 10 Boston, NBC Universal Media, 7 Aug. 2017, www.nbcboston.com/news/ local/clear-the-shelters-reasons-to-adopt-shelter-pet/57563/. Accessed 23 Jan. 2021.