Adopt, Don’t Shop and Save a Precious Life!

There are millions of homeless animals in the shelter systems that need loving homes. The number of companion animals euthanized each year would be significantly reduced if people adopted animals from animal shelters instead of purchasing animals from a breeder. 

Many people want to shop around for the “perfect” puppy or a “designer" dog when searching for a new family member. Buying puppies from pet stores or online supports puppy mills. Puppy mill operators view dogs as commodities. Dogs are crammed into small cages and forced to breed as much as possible so the breeder can get the most amount of money as possible from the dogs by selling their puppies. Sadly, when the dogs can no longer breed, they are often killed because they don’t profit from the mill industry. For instance, Humane Society International spokesperson, Rebecca Aldworth, stated that animal welfare is always second to profit in the puppy mill industry. Aldworth said she has been in facilities where dead and dying animals are in the same cages.[i] No Food, no water, and they never get out of their cages.[ii] Puppy mill breeders ship puppies all over the world and don’t care about the puppies’ well-being. Puppies are shipped on planes for long periods without food or water. These puppies are many times sick before even getting on the plane. Recently, dozens of puppies were found dead on a Toronto-bound plane from Russia. According to Paws for Hope, a Canadian animal welfare foundation, the breeding mill industry is a multimillion-dollar business in Canada. Many puppy mills are also run on Canadian soil.[iii]  

Each time a puppy mill dog is purchased, a dog in a shelter loses their chance of finding a loving home. Dogs sold from breeders are costly and can cost up to thousands of dollars. On the other hand, dogs adopted from shelters cost significantly less money, anywhere from free to $300.00 dollars. Most of the time, dogs adopted from animal shelters are spayed/neutered and up to date on their medical needs. 

Dogs adopted from animal shelters can be very loving, and loyal furry friends and can even provide their family members with the same unconditional love and be healthy. 

Dogs aren’t the only species of animals exploited by breeders who desire to profit from selling animals. Many other animals are also exploited in the same way. Cats, horses, rabbits, and mice are just a few examples of animals breed and treated as commodities. There are millions of homeless cats on the street and filling up animal shelters that need homes, yet there are still people breeding them. Horses are often repeatedly bred to exhaustion. Young mares are often frightened of stallions. They are drugged and forced to breed. Carrying a foal is extremely hard on a mare’s body. Being continually forcefully impregnated is extremely physically taxing on the mare, and many things can go wrong during pregnancy and birth. Please do your due diligence and don’t fund unethical animal breeding operations that make a profit and treat our furry friends as commodities and hurt the animals we love.  

There will be fewer homeless animals in the world by not supporting and funding unethical animal breeding industries. The goal is to one day have all animals placed in loving homes. My dream is for animal shelter kennels and horse barns to remain empty as every animal deserves a chance. In the end, animals are sentient beings -living, feeling creatures, and they should be viewed as individuals with distinct personalities, not as objects or commodities. 

  [i] Animal Activists Urge Consumers Not to Buy Dogs Online After Dozens of Puppies Found Dead on Toronto-Bound Flight. CTVNews. Melissa Lopez-Martinez, June 21, 2020.

[ii] Animal Activists Urge Consumers Not to Buy Dogs Online After Dozens of Puppies Found Dead on Toronto-Bound Flight. CTVNews. Melissa Lopez-Martinez, June 21, 2020.

[iii] Animal Activists Urge Consumers Not to Buy Dogs Online After Dozens of Puppies Found Dead on Toronto-Bound Flight. CTVNews. Melissa Lopez-Martinez, June 21, 2020.