Pet Sitting, Dog Walking, Scottsdale, AZ

There are lots of ways that people choose a new family dog or cat.  Some may search the newspaper for advertisements from backyard breeders; others find breeders via listings on the internet, some go to puppy stores, and others the dog or cat find them. The best method, however, in terms of being helpful to society in general is to adopt a dog from a local animal shelter. Did you know that Arizona has the second largest pet overpopulation?

Adopting a dog brings a new friend into your life.  It also helps to reduce the number of unwanted and homeless dogs in your area.  Unless the shelter is a “no kill” facility (and these are sadly few and far between), it will also save a dog’s life.  Animal lovers everywhere champion the adoption of dogs from shelters as opposed to any other method of bringing home a new pet for this reason alone, but there are other reasons to choose the adoption option.

• Adopted pets (from the shelters) have had their shots
• Shelters often have information about a dog’s temperament
• Adopting a pet frees space in the shelter for more dogs

When you adopt a dog you can be sure that the staff at the shelter has had the dog examined by a vet for diseases and parasites and that the dog has had its shots.  This is not always true of dogs acquired by other means such as kids giving away “free puppies” from a box in front of the local grocery store or on craigslist.

The dogs at a shelter are not just strays and often are turned in to the shelter by former owners for various reasons.  When this happens, the shelter collects as much information about the dog as possible, including whether its good with children, how much it barks, how playful or obedient it is, whether its housebroken, and other important details.  While it’s true that this information is only as good as the honesty of the former owner, most of the time it is fairly accurate. Contrary to popular belief, one can also find puppies in the shelter as well.

Please consider sharing this article with your friends to help raise awareness for pet adoption.