Save a Pet, Get a Friend.
Does Adopting a Pet Scare You? It shouldn’t.

A lot of people think that adopting a pet is a big hassle. Most people that I know believe that if you decide to adopt a pet, you will have to deal with all kinds of behavioral troubles. Adopting a dog or a cat, they say, is the surest way to have unnecessary trouble. Although this may be true about some adoption rescue pets, it is not true about all of them. Some of them may truly have been severely abused or mistreated, but others are also perfectly healthy, happy pets who just need a home and a second chance at life.

The decision to adopt a pet can be one of the most rewarding ones that you can make. I promise that you will not regret it.

According to the Walk for the Underdog, a non-profit organization here are some interesting statistics:

*American taxpayers spend approximately two billion dollars a year to shelter, euthanize and dispose of three to four million unadopted dogs and cats.

*Only 1 in 10 dogs in the United States lives in a permanent, loving home. 14% of pets come from shelters.

*48% of pets are strays or come from friends or rescuers. 4000-6000 animal shelters exist in the United States.

Don’t plan on buying a new dog from an animal breeder; it may be a bad idea. If you buy purebred dogs, after all, you can run into all kinds of genetic problems. You see, dogs from pure breeds tend to be severely inbred. This can cause major health concerns later in life. The pure breed dogs will always be able to find someone to own them, but the ones up for adoption do not have this chance.

Sometimes, when you adopt a pet you are literally saving it from death. After all, the animal shelters can only hold so many dogs, cats, rabbits, and other animals for so long. After that, they have to be put to death. When you adopt a pet, it is one less animal that will have to be given an injection.

In my opinion, this is a great humanitarian act. I don't understand how people can justify buying a dog or cat when there are so many out there that need to be adopted. To me it just does not make sense. It only encourages the further breeding of pets, which in turn leads to more unwanted animals. When you adopt a pet, you do a little bit to save one animal from this vicious cycle. I hope this has convinced you to adopt pets, but if it hasn't, I understand.

Owning a pet isn't for everyone.

Copyright © 2007 by Myles Saulibio. All Rights Reserved

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Mahalo and Aloha

Myles Saulibio