Looking for a New Pet - Check Your Local Shelter First and Help Save a Life
By Michelle Wood Are you thinking about adding a furry new member to your family, and you really have your heart set on a certain breed? Well, I encourage you to skip the mall and local breeder and make your first stop your local pet shelter.
Every year, millions (yes, millions) of unwanted cats and dogs are euthanized in pet shelters. The majority of those animals were fully acceptable for adoption, but because of space limitations, had to be put to death. It's such a sad situation and I'm hoping that more people would go out and save some of these loving animals from their impending death sentences.
I currently have two incredibly loving dogs and two fabulous cats and they have all been rescued from shelters. Not a day goes by where I don't remember picking them out from the hundreds of available pets all anxiously waiting for someone to pick them to go home. It just breaks my heart. And if you've never been to a pet shelter, I would strongly encourage you to visit one, or even volunteer at one. I guarantee that once you set foot in one of those places, you'll never buy a pet from a pet store or private breeder again.
A lot of people have the misconception that only mutts end up at the shelter. That's the furthest thing from the truth. There are many pure bred pets at shelters (some will even come with AKC papers) that need loving homes. And really, there's nothing wrong with a mutt. Both of my dogs are mutts, and they are truly the best companions I could ever ask for.
Sadly, "behavioral issues" is one of the most popular reasons for dumping an animal at a shelter. The truth is, the pet owner never realized how much time and effort it is to take care of a pet, especially a dog. The owner got caught up in the emotion of having a new puppy, and the "how cute is he?" syndrome and didn't place much thought into "how do I take care of this animal?" Typically, those "behavioral issues" would never have even become issues if the pet owner took the time to have obedience-trained the dog. It's just so sad.
One of the other popular reasons for surrendering a pet is "I'm moving and can't take it with me." This one makes me so upset, I can't even put it into words. I have had many animals for the last 15 years and have probably moved at least 10 to 12 times in that time period, and I never gave up my pets. I always made sure to look for places (when I was renting) where pets were allowed. If they weren't, I'd continue looking until I found one. Unfortunately, many people don't realize that pets are truly members of the family and should be treated as such. They add so much richness to daily life, and just live to love us unconditionally. It's so sad when they don't get the same treatment in return.
If you're not sure where to start looking for shelters, PetFinder.com is the perfect place to start. You can choose what breed, type of animal, sex and size pet you are looking for, and then put in your zip code and VOILA! It does all the legwork for you. Once you start seeing photos of all those poor, homeless animals, you will be wishing you could adopt them all (I know I do).
When you do find a potential animal, go visit it at the shelter to see if it will be compatible with your family members (including other pets). Find out if it's been trained as a lot of shelters train their pets in order for them to become more adoptable. Also, make sure to find out if it has any special health needs. If it does and you know you won't have the time to devote to the pet's needs, you will need to find a more acceptable pet to fit with your lifestyle and schedule. This will be hard to do once you fall in love with that fluff ball, but it's in the pet's best interest so it doesn't wind up back in the shelter.
If the dog does need to be trained, there are many places you can go for that training. Personally, I took both of my dogs to PetSmart® for 6-week obedience training classes which were well-worth both my money and my time. My dogs started out as the worst behaved dogs (thanks to previous owners) to "Top Dogs", which was super cool. I invested a lot of my time and energy training them and it showed - they are both very well behaved. Just like children, dogs want and need to have rules and boundaries.
And I must briefly touch upon the subject of puppy mills StopPuppyMills.org for disturbing facts about puppy mills). I never have, and refuse to, purchase a cat or dog at a pet shop. It's just so sad that the majority of these animals were bred in puppy or kitten mills and have been subjected to deplorable living conditions. I know you're probably thinking, "but why not save one of these animals and give it a good home?" Well, this is part of the vicious cycle involving pet shops as well as "backyard breeders."
Many people buy pets from these shops because of guilty feelings, the shop owners and mills make lots of money, and the purchase of the pet leaves space to accommodate yet another mill animal. To add insult to injury, many of these mill animals are so sick because of serious in-breeding, starvation, and other disgusting living situations. Sadly, many pet owners end up euthanizing their animals after a few months of purchasing them just because the animals are so sick. Will this disgusting cycle ever end?
My article was not meant to be a sad and depressing one. Rather, I just wanted to enlighten future pet owners of the miserable situations these animals are placed in every day and just hoping that more and more people will adopt loving pets from shelters and help end the vicious cycle of puppy and kitten mills once and for all.
So, if you are planning on getting a pet, please, please, please check your local shelter first. And please realize that whether these animals are pure or mixed breeds, they all have one thing in common: they just want to love and be loved. And that's all that really should matter.
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Michelle Wood is a handbag designer and founder of Lil' Diva, an online retailer of unique and funky handbags
diaper bags, totes, and other related fashion accessory products. She has also recently started "The Diva's Corner" on her site, where women can submit their own fashion tips,
short stories, advice and information on many interesting topics that are geared toward today's fabulous women!
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