Your new Best Friend is Waiting.

There is an overpopulation of homeless pets in America today, and there are simply not enough good homes for these animals. Homeless, or abused cats and dogs are found everyday. We see it in our newspapers, television shows, and everyday life. Some might feel helpless, but you can help! One way to start ending pet overpopulation is to adopt your next pet from a local shelter or rescue group. By doing this you can help reduce the overall number of homeless pets out on the streets.

            Instead of going through the steps of buying a pet, you can go through some steps to adopting. Most shelters had a process they go through that usually starts with an application. This is usually a form that includes vet references and non-family references. These sorts of things help make the best match of a dog or cat for you. The application process usually takes a few days, but you should expect to hear back from rescue groups about arrangements to meet the animal shortly. If after the review, you have been approved to adopt, a home visit is usually made by a personal of the group to ensure your home is everything you say it is on the application. A home needs to be a safe environment for a new pet and they must make sure of it.

            Of course there are tons of reasons as to why you should buy a dog from a breeder but you must weigh out your options before bring home such a huge responsibility. For starters, the feeling you get from saving a dog from a kill-shelter is one you cannot replace. You are really saving two lives when you adopt, not just one. When you adopt a dog you save that dog from potentially being euthanized, and at the same time, you free up kennel space for another dog to be brought in. Adoption also gives you a better chance of finding your perfect match for your family. Shelters and rescue groups tend to have a good idea of certain dogs temperaments and personalities. This is what allows them to match certain dogs or cats with what your family is looking for. 

            Shelter or Rescue group dogs and cats are also usually kept up to date with their vaccinations, spay or neutered, and many groups also microchip the animal before the adoption process. This is less money out of your pocket and more time for you to spend with your new friend. While yes, there is most of the time an adoption fee, this fee is usually less that a fourth of what you would pay at a pet store or breeder, not to mention a mere percent of what the rescue group and shelter had previously put into the animals vet bills and care. Shelter animals tend to bond quickly and deeply with their new owners. Usually, these dogs are found is bad situations or put out because of family issues. Animals do go through a mourning process, so once they've found a loving home again, they want to please the new owners as much as possible to hopefully ensure that they won't be homeless again.
           

               From my own personal experience of saving two homeless pets, I can honestly say it has been the most rewarding experience of my life so far. I was blessed to had found two of the greatest animals, Tonka, a pure bred Yellow Labrador who I adopted when she was 2 years old, and Max a pure bred Yorkshire Terrier who I adopted when he just turned 1 years old. There is a misconception with adopting dogs from a shelter that all shelter dogs are “old” or “mutts”. This is not true, which you can tell from my story. I adopted a one and two year old both who were pure bred. Both have great temperaments, and personalities. I could not imagine my life without them.

            The point of this article is to get out the word that there are shelters all over, with tons of homeless pets that need a loving home. So before you go out and buy that new puppy at a pet store and stick a bow on his head underneath the Christmas tree, check out your local shelter. There are plenty of ways to help, its up to you to actually make it happen.