Do You Adopt?

I am a firm believer in adoption, because there are so many pets out there that need a home. I personally won't support a puppy shop or mill that is breeding and possibly mistreating animals.

I know some people buy from shops or individuals because they want a certain breed. Did you know that many speciality breeds have their own rescues or shelters across the country?

Where do you get your pets from?

Well my cats have all been rescued in some way or the other. My cat Stretchy was rescued from Ireland, he was thrown out along with his brothers and sisters for reasons unknown. My other kitty Smudge was rescued by a young student. My mother works at a school and one of the students came up to her and told her about her cat giving birth but her parents want to get rid of all the animals and kicked the cat out, so her cat and it's kittens were living under a shed. The last surviving kitten, which was Smudge, was given to my mum who gave her to me. My other cat Tribble was an abused cat that me and my dad saved.

My dogs have been bought. My Beligum Shephard was bought from a breeder, a very lovely breeder who took very good care of all her animals. My other dog, a rottweiler was bought from a family who had rottie puppies. It was lovely, really homely and nice people who took good care of their animals and the puppies.

However, I do agree with adoption, and when my boyfriend and I are in a position to get a cat or a dog, we plan on adopting. You are right, there are so many pets out there that need a good, loving home. I can't wait to get another pet and give that pet the best life it could possibly have and love it until it sadly passes on.

Yes, all of my cats have been adopted from shelters. They were kittens though. We use to have one dog who was adopted by a CIA agent, this was back in the late 80s. He was an extremely intelligent, great pet and once I was playing in the driveway and he pulled me out of the way of our neighbor's daughter's car, she was a teen and barreling up the gravel driveway at an absurd speed. Sadly said neighbor left out anti-freeze in water dishes outside and our dog drank it and died.

I do not personally have or adopt any furry animals as I have a child that's highly allergic to them all. I would adopt but due to my baby boy, I'm not able to. My mom adopted all her cats we grew up with through adoption fairs. She has a heart of gold for animals. If she had a farm, shed adopt every animal locally if she could.

Over the years, most of the pets I have had have been abandoned ones. My very first cat was one that followed my mother and myself home one night (meowing loudly the whole way) when we were out for a walk one evening. My favorite childs story at the time was called "Little Black Sambo", so I named my kitty Sambo. It didn't matter that mom explained to me that Sambo was a boy's name, and this was a "girl kitty"; Sambo she became, and eventually, Sambo had kittens, so then we had to find homes for them.
She was a great cat, and happily let me play with her, and even put my doll dresses on her, and push her around in my baby buggy.
Someone must have moved away and left her, but she was just the sweetest kitty ever, and I doubt that she had any regrets about following us home that night.

I have adopted every animal I have every had. And I encourage everyone interested to do the same.

My absolute best friend in the world was my rottie/blk lab Kerri. She is now gone. At thirteen we had to let her go. I have been looking for a another dog to replace her but in seven years I have not found a replacement.

What is it about the best pet you have ever had, no other seems to come close? I guess I'll just keep looking.

Absolutely! One of the best animals we have was adopted! We were skeptical at first but I am true firm believer that if you work with your dogs they can be good and obedient. It does take a lot of work, but totally worth it! I love my two boys so much! They are very special!

I think that adopting a dog is a great idea, and there are a lot of wonderful dogs that are in rescues and other shelters that need homes. I have had several dogs over the years that i have adopted from shelters, and they all turned out to be excellent pets.
However, I have also had some dogs that I bought, and I have no problem with anyone that wants to buy a dog either.
To me, saying that a person should always adopt a dog because there are so many that need homes; is not the right way to be looking at the problem.
That is like telling a newly married couple that they should adopt rather than have their own child, because there are so many children in orphanages.
It doesn't address the actual problem, which is people who get a pet, then decide they don't want the responsibility, and give to to the dog pound. Another big issue, is that some people do not get their pet neutered; so then they end up with an unexpected litter of puppies, which (either sooner or later) end up in a shelter needing a new home.
If pets were taken care of responsibly, the amount of them who end up in a shelter would be much less.

Every single cat we've had over the years was either adopted from a shelter (usually the ones who were on the kill list) or were strays or ferals that we brought into our house. Even the single cat that had come from a pet shop was technically adopted by us. A cousin had bought a baby kitten, and given it to my mother because her new apartment didn't allow pets. (And then she tried asking for the kitten (but now a cat) back two years later, but my mother refused because my cousin had only had the cat for about a month, and we had had the cat for two years! That was also the cat that every one, pet shop employees included, thought was male, but really was a female. Hence why she was named "Judzia Dax".)

I really don't understand buying cats or dogs from shops or breeders. We already had to many homeless animals as it is! My Aunt is currently breeding her two dogs and calling the puppies "pedigree" dogs, when they are really all mutts! The father dog is a mix of two breeds and while the mother dog is technically a "pure" breed (not mixed with any other breed) she's undersized and has a slew of health problems. They just had a second litter, and now they have 6 dogs plus a whole litter of puppies. It's ridiculous frankly.

The best thing to do is adopt your pets from shelters and to have them fixed right away. Fixing your pets is not cruel, it's common sense.

Any pet I or my family has ever had has been adopted. I think that with so many animals put out on the streets or dropped off at shelters that there is no need to go any other route. We generally adopt kittens, but a few times adopted a cat that was a few years old because the cat was on the list to be put down if they were not adopted within x number of days. (Ugh I hate the sound of that and wish I could save them all.) We were also able to adopt our dog, we knew the type of dog we wanted, had to get along with other pets and be ok living in the city and it took a little time but we were able to find the best dog for us.

I love working with rescues. We currently have five rescue kitties: Echo, River, Kaylee, Moon, and Star. Echo is from a local shelter which has since shut down. River and Kaylee are from the wonderful Feline Rescue, and Moon and Star from Last Hope. All of these rescues are in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. If you're anywhere close by, you should look into them! They do wonderful, sometimes even heroic work in rehoming animals who just need a shot at a family. We're currently in the planning stages of fencing our yard so we can add a dog to the mix. When we do, we'll likely go through Last Hope again. We've fostered for them in the past.

I understand completely the desire to meet the parents of a cat or dog, to seek out certain breed traits. Sometimes that's a necessary thing for a family, and I don't shame people who want to go that route. With a breeder, you know what you're getting - in theory. With local breeders fighting the law that was just passed this summer which would shut down puppy or kitten mills, though, I have to wonder if people can always tell what they're getting. How do you know that cute kitten goes with that sire? Was that Mama dog really well-treated during her pregnancy? The risk is increased for people who buy from classifieds. Because of that, I'd rather go with a fostered dog or cat from a rescue. Again, I'd never shame someone who decides otherwise. I just don't believe it's all as certain as people think.

All of my cats are rescues. We got them all from a really great no-kill shelter that was in our area, they had all had their shots and been given clean bills of health, and the two we got as kittens came with spay/neuter vouchers. They also all came with a voucher for a free first checkup at the vet after adoption. I would only ever get a dog or cat from a shelter or rescue, it is just too hard to find reputable breeders, and pets from pet stores are a lot more likely to find homes than ones at a shelter.

Yes. All of my cats are adopted. I am a member of different animal welfare groups on Facebook. The members there can post pictures of dogs or cats who need foster homes or adoption. Whenever I can and I have enough money to take care of another pet, I would go out of my way to adopt them. Sometimes, I would need to travel or commute because the one who is fostering the animal lives far away. Some people would see this as an inconvenience, but I don't. Every adopted animal means one more out of the street.

We have 4 pets, 2 dogs and 2 cats and all of them have been adopted through our local SPCA or from local rescue groups. I am a believer in adoption. There are so many unwanted animals and if we have room for one in our home I want to be the one who can save them.

Buying a pet from a pet store or a breeder only places a pet in a shelter on the list for being euthanized. It is a sad reality but it is true.
We, as a community, have to step up and help with this never ending problem. Adopt today !!!

You will be happy you did.
Danyel

I prefer private adoptions to shelters. While I am sure there are some good ones, the shelters that I have seen are no better than the puppy mills that everyone rants about, the adoption prices are outrageous, and they are far too meddlesome.

All of my cats have been either adopted or raised as kittens, and I took one in as a feral, losing her less than a year ago. We thought of adopted a cat from a shelter a couple of times, but we were put off by all of the questions, the mandates, and the micromanagement.

I currently have two twenty-four year-olds, have had two others who lived to be twenty-three, and another that made it to twenty, and they were all indoor-outdoor cats yet, in order to adopt one from a shelter, I would have to promise to keep her indoors, and one shelter even wanted us to sign a paper promising to feed Science Diet, which is something that we stepped up from several years before.

Again, I am sure that there are good animal shelters, but I have visited several and haven't found one yet.

While I am all for anyone who wants to adopt a pet from a shelter and save it from being killed unnecessarily; I do not like how shelters operate either. The fees that they charge are more than a person would pay for a papered dog a lot of the time. This means that many animals are either killed or live at the shelter rather than finding a happy home with a family.
Since they ask for donations, which are supposed to help the animals; but only keep a few of the animals, this means that they are basically a for-profit facility in truth.
Just like happens in many of the rescue missions for homeless people, the donations that come in, end up buying a Cadillac for the executive director of the pet shelter, rather than helping the animals that are there.