It has been over eleven years that the “Adopt, Don’t Shop” campaign was launched by a Los Angeles based nonprofit animal advocacy organization, Last Chance for Animals. This is an international campaign to raise awareness about the benefits of adopting rescued pets instead of puppies from pet stores that are bought from puppy mills. Over the course of as many as eleven years, this slogan has been used and promoted by a growing number of animal right proponents. Many of us might think that by now, there would’ve been a widespread increase in the knowledge of prospective pet owners, but sadly that’s not the case.
Over the past few months, I’ve repeatedly been asked by friends and colleagues as to where they could buy a dog from. My first question to them is, “Why do you want to buy one? Why can’t you just adopt a stray or a rescued animal, instead?” And more often than not, their instant reactions are those of – “But dogs up for adoption are usually unhealthy and sick”, or “I don’t want to buy a mix breed or street dog.” or to the extent of saying that they’re not pretty and appealing enough to outright rejecting the idea. And to my dismay, they do end up buying one from a breeder.
But in the attempt of buying a pretty, healthy and purely bred dog, aren’t we forgetting the real reason for which we wanted a companion in the first place? Let’s think about it! What we really need is love, companionship, and happiness in our lives and it is for this reason that we take the decision to get home our furry friends, right? And for those of you who claim to love animals and dogs in particular, don’t you think that by buying dogs you are promoting commercial dog breeding?
So why is it that we are not in favor of commercial dog breeding? Let me explain:
- Practices and conditions in most breeding centers are unethical and downright abhorrent in many cases. Dogs live in squalid conditions, often without proper veterinary care and basic amenities.
- The mercenary breeders breed female dogs at every opportunity they get, giving them very little time for recovery, the result of which is that many puppies are born with serious health problems and often die premature deaths.
- Buying a pet involves a huge amount of money. Health problems mentioned above, leads to a number of visits to the veterinarian, thereby increasing the costs further.
- Many local shelters only have a certain limit up to which they can foster dogs. Till the time they are not adopted, other dogs can’t be brought in.
Advantages of Adopting a Dog
Now, let’s take a moment and look at the many advantages of adopting a dog:
- The amount of self-satisfaction that you will get by adopting a dog would far surpass that when you purchase one because the amount of unconditional love you will receive from a homeless or rescued dog will be the same as that you would receive from a dog that you purchase.
- Our very own Indian strays, apart from being absolute beauties, the rough life on streets has made them immune and healthy in numerous ways. They are naturally much more strong and tolerant to adverse conditions.
- Adoption is free of cost! Hence, you save the costs of purchasing a dog.
- For those who want an excellent variety of dogs to choose from, there is nothing better than a shelter or a rescue center.
- For those who are a little older and want a slightly sober dog as a companion, a shelter or a rescue center may be a good choice as you can pick up a well-trained old dog too.
- For every one dog that you adopt from a rescue center or shelter, one more dog is taken in its place. So in a way you actually save two lives!
Let’s see this, you’re looking for a companion and these numerous homeless dogs are looking for a family. So why not give them a chance of finding their forever homes? The satisfaction of saving a life, even if it’s that of a dog, can’t be compared to anything else.
So save a life, adopt a shelter dog.
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