2 October 2018
Abby Jadali
Everyone from young children to older adults want to get a pet of their own at some point in their life. These pets can range from goldfish to hamsters and advance all the way to dogs or cats.
While owning any of these animals can be fun and exciting, it is important to be aware of where and how you are obtaining them.
One animal, in particular, that gets placed in to homes very often, are dogs. Dogs are adorable creatures that love you more than they love themselves. Many of them are great for families of one to families of ten.
Due to their popularity, they’re easy to find in a lot of different markets which makes the following question still stand Is it better to adopt your furry friend or buy him in a pet store?
Personally, I believe it is better to adopt than to shop.
A good amount of dogs in pet stores come from puppy mills and according to the Canine Journal, “puppy mills in the U.S. are legal, (but) a vast majority aren’t regulated.” The same journal states that “practices and conditions in most puppy mills are unethical and downright abhorrent.”
When you are buying puppies from pet stores, you are giving the puppy mills the ability to make more money and have a greater means for breeding these animals. I personally believe that all animals deserve a home but if we cut back on giving puppy mills the ability to continue to make profit, then we may be able to stop their production.
In the Canine Journal, “the ASPCA reports that roughly 6.5 million companion animals enter shelters every year.” These numbers alone tell you how important it is to adopt these animals.
To top it off, most of these dogs are older and have a harder time being adopted, their younger kennel-buddies usually get picked first. Older animals have the ability to adapt with a family and be just as lovable as a puppy would be, but not a lot of people accept that.
A vast majority of dogs that end up in animal shelters are puppies that were bred from puppy mills that did not make the cut with their families. If we cut out the puppy mills and go straight to shelters, the puppy mills will have no choice but to shut down production which allows more animals to be adopted from shelters.
The Canine Journal mentions many benefits to adopting a pet and some of these include: understanding the dog’s personality, a variety of choices are provided for you, a fully trained dog and overall, less expensive purchase. Besides all of these things, if we “adopt a dog from a shelter (we) take business away from mills.”
These animals will love you that much more because you are saving them from a life that they would rather not be living. Puppy mills have their dogs usually living in unfair conditions so the more we fight for adopting our animals, the faster we rid the world of puppy mills.
For further information: Canine Journal | Adopt Don’t Shop