{"id":3793,"date":"2018-01-24T09:00:34","date_gmt":"2018-01-24T17:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/?p=3793"},"modified":"2018-01-22T11:49:48","modified_gmt":"2018-01-22T19:49:48","slug":"writer-feature-why-adopt-instead-of-shop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/adopt-dont-shop\/writer-feature-why-adopt-instead-of-shop\/","title":{"rendered":"Writer Feature: Why Adopt Instead of Shop?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note: Please welcome our newest intern, Crista! Crista lives in Princess Anne, Maryland and attends University of Maryland Eastern Shore to study aerospace engineering. On breaks she returns to Rockville, Maryland to stay with her family and favorite dog, Mystic. <\/em><\/p>\n

Thousands of animals are brought into homes every year, some into homes that have already had animals and some that are first time pet owners. Pet owners have the choice to shop for their new pet at a pet store or directly from a breeder or they can adopt a pet from a shelter or rescue group. According to the ASPCA<\/a>, there are 3.2 million shelter animals adopted each year, up from 2.7 million in 2011, but there are 1.5 million animals that are euthanized in shelters each year.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>There are a lot of myths surrounding the adoption of animals, one of the most prevalent is that they will likely have some form of behavioral problems. The belief that these problems are the reason that their previous owners handed them over to the shelter but this is often untrue. Sometimes the owners may be moving and are just unable to bring their beloved pet to their new home. When I worked at a petting zoo, one of the miniature alpacas that went to zoos was a rescue. The petting zoo took her in because her previous owner passed away and his family members didn\u2019t have the recourses to care for her. At the petting zoo, she was the sweetest alpaca we had. She loved living with other alpacas and getting attention from visitors.<\/p>\n

A pet that has been taken to a shelter and dropped off might also show signs of anxiety or seem less friendly but become wonderful, loving pets when given the chance to settle in. Another option if behavioral issues are a concern are senior animals. Older pets likely grew up in a home where they received at least the most basic training, have more life experience, and aren\u2019t quite the bundle of energy that a puppy is. This means they will usually be a lot more relaxed and calmer.\u00a0 The ASPCA<\/a> also launched a program in New Jersey to rehabilitate dogs that were rescued from terrible situations and found that they were able to make great progress with the dogs through training and patience.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Another fear future pet owners have is that they have few options when adopting than buying a pet from a pet store. If you have your heart set on one particular breed or type of animal, it may take a bit more patience to find what you are looking for. However, if you get in contact with your local shelters you can find out when the type of pet you want comes in and needs a home. Alternately, you can keep an eye on their websites. When looking for a particular breed, you can also look for a rescue group or society for owners of that breed, let them know you interested in adopting a pet and sometimes they will help you find one that needs a new home. Even if you\u2019re looking for something a little more exotic than a cat or dog, you can still adopt. My local\u00a0government run shelter has two pigs and several birds and guinea pigs up for adoption right now.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The fees involved for adoption are another reason that\u2019s cited for buying a pet instead of adopting. This isn\u2019t really a consideration once you consider the somewhat hidden fees involved in buying a pet. When adopting, the fee usually includes having the animal spayed\/neutered, all of the necessary vaccinations, and sometimes even microchipping and flea treatment. The adoption fee is likely less than what it would cost to have all of those treatments done by a vet once you have brought your pet home from the store or breeder.<\/p>\n

Overall, I think adoption should be the first option for anyone when looking for a pet. A pet becomes a part of your home and another loved one. As long as they love you and they are a good pet, does it really matter to know their lineage or if there are a few blind spots in their history? Adopting a pet can help more than one animal at the same time as well, when you bring your new pet home, you are giving a good animal a good home and also freeing up resources in the shelter system to care for and help rehome more animals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note: Please welcome our newest intern, Crista! Crista lives in Princess Anne, Maryland and attends University of Maryland Eastern Shore to study aerospace engineering. On breaks she returns to Rockville, Maryland to stay with her family and favorite dog, Mystic. Thousands of animals are brought into homes every year, some into homes that have already had animals and some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":3794,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[11,12,8,597],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3793"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3793"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3801,"href":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3793\/revisions\/3801"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sittingforacause.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}