Three Big Reasons - Reason #1

Hey everyone! Time for our first Wednesday update.

Some of you who are new to rescuing may wonder - why is it so important to adopt a pet?

This is the first in a series I'm calling "Three Big Reasons". I hope you enjoy! Feel free to share your "Big Reasons" in the comments below.

Rescuing, the Economical Option

This is a big one, especially for people like me who want a companion on a budget. Doing the right thing can save you some green!

Petstores:
Think I'm kidding about animals being expensive? We all know about the vet bills, the toys, the feeding, and yes, we need to have some money saved up and a steady income to provide for all of that. But the upfront cost of buying a pet? It can be steep. For instance, the last time I walked into one of popular pet store Petland's, a known dealer in unethically sourced puppy mill dogs (Weaver, 2008), Dallas locations earlier this year, they were selling pups at $1,400 each. Yesh! Combined with the fact that many puppy mill dogs will get sick and require expensive vet bills or die within their first year (Associated Press, 2009), this cruel practice is simply ridiculously expensive when so many other ethical adoption options are readily available.

Craigslist:
People find strays in need of loving homes every day. Who of us hasn't seen a stray animal duck under a bush, walk confused along the street, caring for their young under a car? A quick sweep of Craigslist.org will almost always feature posts from people who have either found strays, or that are looking to re-home an animal they can no longer care for. Many of these animals are already altered, housetrained, and some come with supplies, and most are offered at no cost. A great source for free companions, Craigslist.org also features many postings for baby animals from accidental litters, and is a wonderful source for people set on bringing a new puppy, pinky, hatchling, kitten, or other little friend into their life.

Petfinder:
A few minutes with shelter search-engine tool Petfinder.com will show you even more great companions, most going for around $100. These shelter animals are generally the best overall value, as shelters generally offer great perks such as free altering and microchip services. Plus, you know your money is going right back into a charitable organization that rescues animals.

Private Rescues:
Private, breed-specific rescues are wonderful if you just have to get that certain pet, but you still want to shop ethically and safe a life. For insurance, Golden Beginnings, a Houston-based Golden Retriever rescue offers dogs for an adoption fee of $250. Adopting a Greyhound through New England rescue Greyhound Rescue, Inc. is also $250. These friends come not only with a reduced cost as compared to buying animal from a breeder, but it also puts your money back into a charity that will use it to save more animals.

Sources:
So that's big reason number one! Here are the sources I referenced. You can enjoy these for some extra reading and research of your own.:


Adoption Process. Greyhound Rescue, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.greyrescue.com/index.php
     /adoptable-dogs/adoption-process

Adopting a Golden Retriever. Golden Beginnings. Retrieved from http://www.gbgrr.org/testweb
     /adopt_golden.htm

Animal Overpopulation. Oxford Lafayette Humane Society. Retrieved from http://www.oxfordpets.com
     /index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61&Itemid=63

Associated Press. (2009, March 18). Petland accused of selling sick puppies to unsuspecting customers.    
     FoxNews.com.

Community - Pets. Dallas Craigslist. Retrieved from http://dallas.craigslist.org/pet/

Search for a Pet. Petfinder.com. Retrieved from http://www.petfinder.com/index.html


Weaver, J. (2008, November 20). Investigation ties pet chain to puppy mills. NBCNEWS.com.