Animal lovers, especially dog lovers, usually own a dog that was obtained from a variety of sources. Some are given by relatives, some are bought from pet shops or breeders; some are even adopted from the dog shelters. Each of these owners has their own reasons to pick the sources of the dog. One common reason for those who prefer pure breeds or mix breeds rather than the local breeds is because of the high prestige value. Meanwhile, those who prefer adoptions believe that when a dog owner makes that decision, the adopted dogs will also have a second chance to live from the adopters. Realizing about the different ways of obtaining dogs are important so future adopters can make wise decisions in having dogs. It is highly recommend that the adopters think twice before deciding and review some aspects related to the way of having dogs. There are several important differences in the choice of adoption from shelter and buying dogs from breeders or pet shops: the costs, the condition of the dogs and the impact for the population of dogs.
The first thing that must be considered is the costs. To buy a dog from a breeder is very expensive, because the breeder makes the dog as a source of money and object of effort. The breeder usually gives a high price on the grounds that the puppy has good lineage genes from the mother. The breeder would also provide the original certificate for the puppy. Many high class people are interested in buying a puppy of a superior race for fashion and lifestyle. Therefore they are willing to spend money up to tens of millions just to buy dogs from breeders or pet shops. Unlike buying from the breeders, dog-adopters only need to pay for the dog’s sterilization and vaccination cost. The rest are just a matter of papers. The standard price for dogs from adoption is cheaper because the activists and volunteers who work at the shelter do not seek profit at all. The money used to finance the adoption is only for medical expenses and treatments.
In addition to the costs, future owner also needs to know about quality condition of the dogs. Many people assume that by buying from pet shops, the dog purchased is certainly had a healthy body condition and strong immune system. The fact is the rumor is not true. Dogs of the prominent pet shop Puppy Mill died vainly. What actually happen is that the mother; also known as 'baby machine' (usually pure-breed, such as Golden Retriever, Siberian Husky, Shitzu, Chihuahua and many mores;), are being mated by the males continuously. After the birth, the puppies are taken in the age of less than 3 month, in which their immune system still weak. These mating-givebirth cycles never stops until the mother is getting weak, and eventually dies. In the shelter, all dogs were rescued from irresponsible people. The dogs also receive treatment and healing from Vets and volunteers. The psychological problem due to past trauma was slowly removed due to a mental treatment in the foster home. Toilet training is also given by ‘Foster parents’ to the dogs. Hence the dogs from Shelters have better condition than from breeders.
By extremely increasing number of dog population, the number of homeless dogs will increase too. These homeless dogs are suffering and usually considered disturbing to the surrounding communities. Some being killed. Existences of breeders or Puppy mills, or pet shops, make these problems worse. For example, JAAN (Jakarta Animal Aid Network) have frequently rescued stray dogs from the streets which are victims of irresponsible breeder cruelty. Unlike buying dogs from breeders, by adopting a dog from the foster home means saving one life to live. Thus, adopters are also taking part in controlling the dog population. As the dogs at the shelter have been neutered, it helps reduce the birth rates of unwanted born dogs, and it has very big impact. If the population is not being controlled by sterilizing the dogs, in seven years about 50.000 died uselessly.
In conclusion adopting is much better than buying dogs from breeders as it’s assumed from many aspects such as costs, condition of the dogs, and Impact of dogs’ population. To buy dogs from breeders or pet shop impacts many bad causes. Starting adopting a dog from shelter can be a good life style too. It is highly recommended for future owners to think twice before buying dogs from breeders and pet shops. Let us adopt do not buy.
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