Comments on: 9 Reasons You Should Never Buy an Animal from a Pet Store

By: Gaws

Gaws — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:34:21 +0000

Great article and (mostly) applicable the world over. Anyone in Victoria, Australia looking for a pet, please check out the Geelong Animal Welfare Society – http://www.gaws.org.au

Unfortunately, we have 10-20 beautiful animals per week that don’t find homes in time to be saved…

Thanks and happy pet finding!

By: coal mine training

coal mine training — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 04:40:54 +0000

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.

By: Brandon

Brandon — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:07:30 +0000

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.

By: Sara Ost

Sara Ost — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:10:11 +0000

Hi Anderson, thanks so much for sharing your experience. It’s helpful to get an insider perspective on this issue.

By: Anderson

Anderson — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:56:03 +0000

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.

By: j

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 07:18:05 +0000

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.

By: Kimberly Herbert

Kimberly Herbert — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 02:19:26 +0000

My two dogs are shelter dogs. They are wonderful companions and are great with my niece and nephew.

By: nerosmama

nerosmama — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 22:30:38 +0000

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.

By: Patricia Vasquez

Patricia Vasquez — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:45:17 +0000

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.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:32:07 +0000

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.