Why Adopt?

Adopting a pet means giving an animal a second “leash” on life. By making the choice to adopt, you’ll provide an animal with what every pet deserves—a home to call its own.

Here are five more reasons you should be glad you’ve decided to adopt:

5. You will get a happy and healthy pet.
All animals adopted through Happy Paws Rescue Inc. are up-to-date on vaccinations and have been spayed or neutered. We do not have a shelter. Instead, all animals stay in foster homes where volunteers introduce the animals to the pleasures of life as house pets. In fact, some of our dogs are crate-trained, housebroken, and learn basic commands during their time in foster care!

4. You won’t support puppy mills.
Puppy mills are commercial breeding facilities where the goal is simple—sell dogs to make a profit. Here, female dogs are bred over and over again; they are always pregnant or nursing and are “discarded” when they are no longer able to reproduce. Because little regard is taken to the heredity of dogs before they are bred, many puppies are born with genetic defects. The dogs are kept in filthy cages—the legal size is only inches larger than the dog on all sides—and are often not given proper food, water, veterinary care, or socialization.
Puppy mills sell their dogs to pet stores either directly or through brokers. Other puppy mills sell directly to customers on the Internet. Either way, consumers will never see the horrific conditions where the dogs have been raised. Each year, about 4 million dogs are bred in puppy mills—nearly the same number of animals that are euthanized in shelters.

3. You will save money.
“Buying” a pet is quite expensive. Puppy-mill dogs can cost thousands of dollars. And they often don’t come with proper vetting, such as spay or neuter and vaccinations.
When you choose to adopt from a rescue or shelter, adoption fees are much more reasonable. The dog adoption fee for Happy Paws Rescue Inc. is $350. The adoption fee helps cover our expenses in rescuing and caring for the animals.

2. You will save lives.
When you adopt a pet, you save its life. With about 11,000 dogs and cats euthanized in shelters every day, you’ve also made room for a shelter or rescue group to take in another animal. In other words, you’ve done good!

And the number 1 reason to adopt a pet is….

1. You will have a new best friend.
The bond between humans and their pets cannot be denied. Dogs and cats provide companionship, comfort, and unconditional love. Having a pet has also been linked to both physical and emotional well being—all of this because you decided to open your home and heart by adopting a pet.

Sources:
The Humane Society of the United States
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Best Friends Animal Society