Why Adopt?

There is a fantastic resource, www.petrescue.com.au, that illuminates the reasons why adopting a pet is 99.9% of the time the best option, rather than going to a breeder or a pet store. Below is an excerpt from that site, which nicely addresses myths and misconceptions about shelter pets.

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My parents always advised me never to buy a used car, because I would just be buying "somebody else's problems." Unfortunately, that's how some people view rescue pets - as pets that weren't wanted because they had problems and didn't make good companions.

In the vast majority of cases, that's just not true! Most dogs who come into rescue are not given up because they were "bad dogs" or have behavioral problems. Unfortunately, many people buy pets without thinking about the time, effort, and expense involved in keeping them. These pets end up in shelters, along the side of the road, or if they're lucky - in rescue.

In fact, the most common reasons a pet ends up with a rescue organization include the following:

• The owners don't have time for the pet.
• The owners find that they can't afford either basic vet care or the expense involved in treating an illness or injury.
• The owner dies or goes into a nursing home.
• The owners divorce and neither party can keep the pet. (You would be amazed at how many pets end up in rescue as the result of a divorce!)
• A young couple has a child and no longer has time for the pet, or the pet no longer fits into their "lifestyle."
• The owner is moving to an apartment building that doesn't allow pets.

This is not to say that all rescue pets come with perfect manners, perfectly socialized and housebroken. The pets who have been neglected and abandoned need training and gentle discipline - but so do all the puppies & kittens people buy! And a rescue pet usually needs much less training than a baby pet.

Another myth is that rescue pets are, by definition, inferior to pets bought from a breeder or pet store. Pets who are rescued came originally from show breeders, pet stores, and hobby breeders - pretty much everywhere. They are a cross-section of the pet population, and, as such, are no more or less likely to have genetic problems than any other pet.

But I want a particular breed!

Purebred pets - Don't shy away from considering adoption of a pet from a shelter because you have a preference for a specific breed. About 25 percent to 30 percent of shelter populations are purebreds. If you're looking for a specific breed, contact or visit your local animal shelter or breed rescue group and ask them to contact you should a pet of that breed becomes available.

Designer dogs - People spend big money on labradoodles, puggles, yorkiepoos, and other "designer dogs" when their local shelter is full to the brim with the exact same cross breed dogs. Except the shelter likely calls the labradoodle by its true name - a poodle X!

It teaches your kids good values - Face it - we live in an extremely materialistic society, in which TV teaches kids that everything can be bought, that they should get their parents to buy them everything, and that anything worth having costs a lot of money. Adopting a rescue pet for your family presents a wonderful opportunity to teach your children basic values of compassion and caring, and also about the value of second chances.

(excerpted from petrescue.com.au)

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So when thinking about adding another furry friend to your family, consider adopting over a breeder or pet store. Stay tuned for our next post about Chicagoland adoption options, of which there are many!!