Why adopt a pet

Throughout the country, thousands of commercial pet-breeding facilities and backyard breeders produce millions of animals for sale in pet stores and through newspaper ads. Often known as puppy and kitten mills, these facilities repeatedly impregnate female dogs that spend their entire lives in cages without human companionship. These unfortunate animals are often in intolerable environments, forced to produce litter upon litter, and are destroyed after they become unprofitable assets.

Adult pets are great! You get a lifetime resource with shelter employees and volunteers. People who work at the shelter will be a great resource to help you find information or resources for your pet. Our staff members work with animals every day and have a wealth of information on many different issues.

We have more than 6, animals come through our doors every year! All animals that come to the shelter are admitted by experienced staff. They are given vaccinations upon arrival and go through a behavior screening process. Please ask your Adoption Counselor for details.

See our top 10 reasons to adopt:. You truly give them the keys to start anew in a life where second chances can often be hard to come by. Either way, a new four-legged friend gives you a reason to get outdoors more and stretch your legs!

You can enjoy all the retail therapy you want while making sure your new rescue dog is living in the lap of luxury. Puppies purchased at pet stores almost always come from cruel breeding facilities where dogs are confined to small, filthy spaces and receive little to no veterinary care.

By adopting from your local shelter or rescue, you are giving back to your community instead of helping cruel breeders profit. Although puppies and kittens are cute, they can require a lot of work to train. An adult or older pet that is already trained may be a better fit for your lifestyle. For example, adopting an adult dog that is already housetrained and knows basic commands is often much easier than adopting a puppy. However, rescue groups do provide support for new owners because keeping pets in good homes is in the best interest of these groups.

Search for adoptable pets on Web sites like Petfinder. By adopting a pet from an animal shelter or rescue group, you'll help save the lives of two animals—the pet you adopt and a homeless animal that can be rescued because of space you make available. Adopting a pet from an animal shelter is much less expensive than buying a pet. Although many shelters and rescue groups have purebred animals, an adopted mixed-breed pet may be healthier than a purebred pet and, therefore, cost less overall.

You'll Get a Great Pet Animal shelters and rescue groups have plenty of healthy, well-behaved animals waiting for a home.