Those of us active in animal rescue often hear complaints regarding how long it takes for the adoption process. There are many good reasons for this: 1 – Rescue organizations are staffed completely by volunteers, or larger institutions like the Humane Society and ASPCA are minimally staffed by paid workers who depend on a large number of volunteers to work with them. 2 – We want to be sure that the animal is a good fit for your home and vice versa – it’s very difficult on the humans and animals when there needs to be yet another “re-homing”. 3 – We need to insure the safety of the animal and provide it with basic training. 4 – We need to be able to provide as much information about the animal to the future home, so that everyone is prepared.
It’s easy to go into any pet store, plop down your money and walk out with a pet. They don’t require you to prove you will give the animal a good home – they just want your money. And most reliable REAL breeders, will never sell their animals to a pet store, so if you go into one, 99.9% of the time, you are buying a dog (most often) from a “Puppy Mill” – an inhuman way to breed dogs just for profit. They are often stacked one atop the other in wire cages, especially the breeder dogs. They often never get their paws on the soft earth. Aside from the cruelty aspect of this, you are very likely to get a dog with a lot of health issues. Sometimes you get lucky, often you don’t and the dog never does.
This also means that the thousand and thousands of “used” and unwanted dogs, get killed, simply because there are TOO MANY of them!
So please, opt to adopt – be patient, do your research to find out the best breed or mixed breed for your family, learn how to take care of your puppy, dog, cat or whatever, BEFORE you get it. They rarely come to you (especially as babies) trained – you need to teach them.
And VOLUNTEER – become a part of the solution to aid in the quicker adoption of all animals, educate yourself about why the worst thing you can do is buy a dog from a pet store – we need to put puppy mills out of business.
Go to my Favorite Websites page to find several animal rescue organizations.