Adopting a
Dog
There are lots
of ways that
people choose a
new family dog.
Some may search
the newspaper
for
advertisements
from breeders
who are selling
new puppies;
others find
breeders via
listings on the
internet, while
still more may
simply purchase
a puppy from a
local pet
store. Perhaps
the best method,
however, in
terms of being
helpful to
society in
general is to
adopt a dog from
a local animal
shelter.
Adopting a dog
brings a new
friend into your
life. It also
helps to reduce
the number of
unwanted and
homeless dogs in
your area.
Unless the
shelter is a “no
kill” facility
(and these are
sadly few and
far between), it
will also save a
dog’s life.
Animal lovers
everywhere
champion the
adoption of dogs
from shelters as
opposed to any
other method of
bringing home a
new pet for this
reason alone,
but there are
other reasons to
choose the
adoption
option.
· Adopted
pets have had
their shots
· Shelters
often have
information
about a dog’s
temperament
· Adopting
a pet frees
space in the
shelter for more
dogs
When you adopt a
dog you can be
sure that the
staff at the
shelter has had
the dog examined
by a vet for
diseases and
parasites and
that the dog has
had its shots.
This is not
always true of
dogs acquired by
other means such
as kids giving
away “free
puppies” from a
box in front of
the local
grocery store or
PetsMart.
The dogs at a
shelter are not
just strays and
often are turned
in to the
shelter by
former owners
for various
reasons. When
this happens,
the shelter
collects as much
information
about the dog as
possible,
including
whether its good
with children,
how much it
barks, how
playful or
obedient it is,
whether its
housebroken, and
other important
details. While
it’s true that
this information
is only as good
as the honesty
of the former
owner, most of
the time it is
fairly accurate.
Animal shelters
provide a
valuable service
to the community
that they serve
by keeping the
streets as free
of stray animals
as possible.
Because many of
them do this
with little or
no public
funding or
governmental
support, they
are very limited
in the number of
dogs they can
have in the
shelter at any
given time. The
only way that
they can bring
in more stray
animals is if
they remove the
ones they
currently have.
This is done
through adoption
or euthanasia.
Obviously they
would prefer to
have the dogs
adopted rather
than killed.
Adopting a dog
could very well
save its life
and allows the
shelter to bring
in another dog
in its place.
