9 Reasons You Should Never Buy an Animal from a Pet Store
When my husband and I were about to move to our new place, I told him I’d like to get a cat, so we planned to adopt one. We didn’t get that far, however, because as soon as the landlady unlocked the front door to let us in to our new place, a skinny little black cat scurried in and made herself at home. She’s been with us ever since.
Speaking of black cats, there still prevails a superstitious bias against dark-colored animals and they are often passed over for adoption at animal shelters. Unless you have all-white furniture and the dark shedding fur would cause you major grief, consider bringing a black dog or cat home with you.
There are some other important and compassionate reasons to consider adopting a pet over buying from a store.
Puppy mills. Most pet stores get their puppies from factory-style breeding facilities called puppy mills. Puppy mills are high-volume breeding facilities where many dogs are kept in squalid, caged conditions until they’re ready to sell. They often have health and socialization problems.
Save a life, make a friend for life. It’s sad but true ““ space is limited in animal shelters and if that sweet little creature doesn’t get adopted within a certain amount of time, it will have to be euthanized. There are some no-kill shelters, but they are in the minority.
Save money. It costs much less to adopt from a shelter than to buy from a pet store. What you pay to the shelter generally includes vaccination, de-worming and spay/neuter services. You’ll also get some guidance and advice for the care of your new pet!
AKC papers don’t guarantee health. Purebred papers from the American Kennel Club guarantee only the purity the breed ““ nothing more. Even if a puppy is purebred, it might have hereditary health problems. If you are looking for an AKC-certified pet, look beyond the anonymity of the pet store or the internet and visit a reputable breeder in person to find out more about the puppy’s parentage and living conditions. These days there are rescue organizations for nearly every breed, so it’s not necessary to adopt a mutt if you want to rescue an animal.
You can find purebreds at a shelter. If you’ve got your heart set on a particular breed, give animal shelters a chance; purebreds show up there all the time.
Good karma. Many years ago, our family cat went missing and although my mom scoured the local shelters for him, he was never found. In the meantime, however, she came across a scrawny little ball of fluff that caught her eye and tugged at her heart. She brought him home, took care of him, and now he’s the biggest, fluffiest Maine Coon you’ll ever see. He and my mom are inseparable. She saved his life and he’ll never forget it.
Socialization. A pet store animal has probably never been in a house before, whereas a shelter animal most likely has. Most shelters screen for good behavior and temperament and will be honest with you about the animal’s personality and needs, whereas a pet store only wants to make a profit. Most shelter animals have been left behind because of a cross-country move, a new baby, or expense. These animals have likely been housebroken and know how to manage their way in the world of humans. They’ll certainly be happy to have a new home.
Don’t support animal over-population. There are already so many domestic animals in this world that need a home. Pet shops and puppy mills support over-breeding of these animals for profit. It’s estimated that 6 to 8 million pets are euthanized every year! Rescue a spayed or neutered pet instead and give it the loving home it deserves.
Shelters offer a huge selection of animals. Many shelters rescue more than just dogs or cats. Birds, horses, guinea pigs, hamsters, reptiles, farm animals and all kinds of other critters may be your ideal companion, too.
Image: Conway L.
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15 Comments
December 13th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
EXCELLENT Article.
We always stay the best for of recycling is adopting a dog.
Keep us the great work and keep spreading pet adoption news and lets work to get rid of puppy mills.
Your eco-dog Friends at http://www.pawlux.com
Woof Woof!
Twitter.com/PawLuxury
December 14th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Great article! Thanks for posting.
December 15th, 2008 at 1:29 am
Only if everyone could read this and really understand the size of this problem. Great job!
December 15th, 2008 at 1:35 am
even no kill shelters euthanize the animals in the case scenario that they have been there too long. I used to volunteer at a no kill shelter, but if an animal is caged for too long from not being adopted it will most likely become ill, and with the unfortunate circumstance of under funding, the shelter can not afford medical treatment to keep ill animals well.
December 15th, 2008 at 6:19 am
Thank you for posting this. I am an animal advocate and we need to get the word out about puppy mills and shelters and also breeders. Great job.
December 16th, 2008 at 7:50 am
I have two beautiful, healthy cats. One of them was in a box under a car with her brothers, a lady took them and call everyone she knew, and that’s how we got her when she was only two weeks old. The one was born in a farm and the owner put an advise because he didn’t wanted anymore cats around. A friend of mine call me to ask if I wanted a baby kitten and I said yes. She was only a week old, but the owner said he’d drown the kittens no one took in a few days.
So maybe if I hadn’t said yes in both cases they would have never survived, or maybe someone else would have take care of them… But I’m so happy to have them.
Oh, and they are black. I specified I prefer black cats if available, because it’s true some people don’t want them. I think they bring good luck if anything!
December 16th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
I work for a pet store. I think that there are some things that really need to be made clear. First and foremost, there are few national chain pet stores, like Petco, who do not sell dogs or cats because of over population. I will admit that socialization can be a problem with getting an animal from a shelter but it can be a problem with any animal, really all depending on what they go through during their fear/avoidance phase of their life. With proper education not only for the animal but for the owner as well most behavior issues can be managed it just takes a little work. The store that I work for our mission statement is animals first, now I know that not many people take this to heart but our staff truly does. We maybe a national chain store but we are all people who are in this job for the animals. I think that the better thing to say here would be When buying from a pet store make sure to do your home work. Petco believes in Adoption first and supports and hosts local animal shelter adoptathons almost every weekend, as will as making donations of food and supplies on a regular basis. They also run fundraisers quite often with most if not all of the proceeds going to local shelters. For further information check out their website.
December 16th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
All of our 6 animals are rescues/adoptions. The two purebred golden retrievers are from a rescue group. All 4 cats are black and white: Pipsqueak earned her keep at a vet’s as a blood donor until she found us, Charlie came to us from craigslist. The twins, Chica & Tuita are my special DELIGHT. We brought them back from Puerta Vallarta on our 25th anniversary trip when they were 2 weeks old. Rescues certainly can have their issues but eventually they all turn out to be “the right one” for us. We wouldn’t have it any other way.
December 16th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
My two dogs and two cats are rescues, from either shelters or rescue organizations or in the case of my Corgi, from a local breeder who knew he needed a good home. They all came to me as adults as I want to help difficult to place animals and those are usually the mature/old animal or those w/health issues. If people must have a purebred, there are very reputable breed rescue organizations which do a great job of vetting the potential adopter and matching the individual to the animal. For those not so picky, shelters and rescue organizations have wonderful dogs and cats just waiting for a loving forever home. Oh well, I fear I’m preaching to the choir. Let’s hope the message gets through to more than just we animal lovers.
December 16th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
My two dogs are shelter dogs. They are wonderful companions and are great with my niece and nephew.
December 25th, 2008 at 12:18 am
I have only ever aquired my pets via animal rescue centres and they have been the best companions ever. Anyone looking for a loving companion that is not human should seek via these channels. Just the knowledge that you have saved a life is rewarding enough but having that life residing happily with you is beyond words.
January 20th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Well, i don’t know about other shelters but at the one i work at, when we decide to put an animal up for adoption, its there til it gets adopted. no window of opportunity, no expiration date. if it takes two years to get the animal adopted then thats what we’ll do.
Also, i appreciate the work that no kill shelters do, but as an employee of an open admissions shelter, its frustrating that people look down their noses at us because of the euthanasia when the no kill shelters are outsourcing their euthanasia to us so their hands stay clean.
just remember, as shitty as it is, euthanasia is an integral and omnipresent part of animal welfare.
January 20th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Hi Anderson, thanks so much for sharing your experience. It’s helpful to get an insider perspective on this issue.
January 22nd, 2009 at 10:07 am
I think everyone knows it is a good idea to adopt from animal shelters, but it was nice to see all the reasons listed. I had not thought of a few…
Great article.
February 24th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
Good advise for those who are questioning where to get a new pet. There are some other important and compassionate reasons to consider adopting a pet over buying from a store.
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