Some people decide to give pets as a Christmas gift for others without really thinking of the consequences of their actions. I mean getting a puppy for Christmas sounds like a great idea right? Wrong! Unfortunately many people decide to give pets as Christmas gifts, and animal rescue centers all over the world are inundated with animals that owners either don’t want, or are unable to properly care for.
As most of you will be aware my wife and I have Ricky who is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
Poor Ricky got stuck posing for me when I bought my new camera.
We rescued Ricky from the local animal shelter as a puppy when he was only a couple of months old, and it was probably one of the best decisions of my life. Originally I didn’t want a dog, but my wife really did and so I decided to cave in an let her go and rescue one. I am so glad she did, I couldn’t imagine what might have become of poor little Ricky if we didn’t bring him into our home.
Save Money
Rescuing animals from animal shelters is a great way to save money, particularly when it comes to dogs and cats, as breeders can charge an arm and a leg. The animals that come from these shelters are no less loving than ones you buy in the shop, but they are a lot cheaper and you are giving a loving animal a home where they can become your families pet.
Many unwanted animals are left at animal shelters every year (with Christmas time being a particularly bad time of year). Unfortunately this results in many of these helpless animals being euthanized due to the cost of keeping them and not having enough owners willing to take them in.
From The Humane Society – It is estimated that animal shelters care for 6-8 million dogs and cats every year in the United States, of whom approximately 3-4 million are euthanized.
To me that is disgusting! I can’t believe that people are still breeding dogs and cats for profit when there are so many pets being destroyed every year. In most cases it isn’t the pets fault that they end up in an animal shelter and all of them would want nothing more than to be included in your family.
Finding a Pet
So next time you are thinking of giving someone a pet as a gift, or if you are thinking of buying a pet for yourself, please consider looking in an animal shelter first before deciding to support pet shops and breeders. These people only perpetuate the destruction of innocent cats and dogs and I can’t imagine anyone wanting to support that.
For those of you in Australia you can check out Pet Rescue if you want to look into adopting the next member of your family.
When we get our next dog or cat we will definitely be getting a shelter pet. I would never go to a breeder for a dog and I also am pretty disgusted that dogs and cats are bred for profit when there are so many that need homes as it is.
DC @ Young Adult Money recently posted..How to Give Yourself a Raise Next Year
Yeah it’s really sad / immoral that people are profiting from it
I desperately want a German Shepherd but my wife thinks our children will be too young to have such a large dog around. The nail in the coffin during our “argument” was that a new puppy cost about $1k in our area. So now I plan to get a rescue
I can see her point of view, but I think you will find that provided you train the dog properly and make sure it knows the kids are ahead of it in the pack then I think it will be fine. Caesar Millan talks about this stuff all the time on his show.
I love that show!
I love this post. Even if you want a certain kind of dog, there are breed specific rescues for almost all of them. I’ve found that rescued pets sometimes come with quirks, but are super loveable and seem grateful for the second chance.
Kim@Eyesonthedollar recently posted..Five Businesses for “Retirement”
Thanks Kim
They are all super loveable, the problem is that you can only take so many home to look after at a time
I completely agree with rescuing a pet. Definitely the best way to go. I wish more people would do it, it’s heartbreaking that most of them get put to sleep because they can’t find enough homes.
Gillian @ Money After Graduation recently posted..Merry Christmas!
It’s disgusting, I think if people actually took the time to go to a shelter they would never buy from a breeder.
Glen, I am glad to hear that you rescued a dog from the shelter, I have the same breed as you do, they make such loving pets and there loyal. please encourage your friends to spay and neuter their pets so they can live longer lives, and it will help the overpopulation of animals in the shelters. Ricky looks like a cutie pie.
So loyal and lovable. I’m not sure I could have a different breed after having a staffy now.
I’ll be sure to tell Ricky that you think he’s cute, I’m sure he will love it!
Thank you for writing this. Shelter dogs are the best!
Holly@ClubThrifty recently posted..Snowed In…and Succumbing to Lifestyle Inflation
Yeah, the poor little things. They just want someone to love.
All of our pets (1 pup and 2 kitties) are rescues. They are the loves of our lives and bring us so much companionship and love. Sometimes shelter pets come with special “issues” (our dog was abused-many rescues have abuse histories), but they aren’t any less loving. I wish everyone would consider a shelter or rescue pet.
Many people want puppies or purebred dogs, I think those same people would be surprised to find that both end up in the shelters and or rescues. If you’re looking for a specific breed, reach out to the rescues, in the US you can find basically any breed you want, and all of them need homes. Great post to raise awareness!
KK @ Student Debt Survivor recently posted..2013 Goals
I don’t know how people could abuse an animal, I really hope they go to Jail and get abused themselves!
We have 2 dogs and paid entirely too much for them. I would love to adopt a rescue animal in the future!
Nice one Paul! If only more people were open to the idea.
Rescuing pets is definitely the way to go. People often fail to realize that pure breeds often have genetic defects from generations of inbreeding.
Justin@TheFrugalPath recently posted..New Year’s Resolutions for 2013
To be fair, you can get problems in any dog regardless of if it is pure bred or not. Ricky isn’t a pure breed and he has really bad knee’s. I think it’s probably a lot like humans, some of us have more issues than others.
A shelter pet is definitely the preferred route for most folks.. But not the 100% remedy for everyone.. If you have very small children in your home, many folks would tell you that you shouldn’t get a dog at all.. However, if you do get a dog, you might not find the small timid breeds at your local shelters.
jefferson @SeeDebtRun recently posted..Up The Chimney Goes Your Cash
I agree that shelter pets aren’t 100% for everyone, but so long as there are animals being put down I refuse to promote or sanction breeders or pet shops. With the small breeds I have actually found that they are far more likely to be aggressive than the larger breeds. Little dog syndrome or something.