Did You Buy Your Pet/s Or Adopted Them?

I always adopt pets. There are too many loving loving animals in the world that need homes to consider buying them in my opinion. This would be the case even if I had the money. I may get a dog at some point, and would only consider adopting. I will make a decision on this in the coming months. Pets are super!

 

No. I adopted them all. Most of them mutts, those breeds are the best because They require less grooming and withstand better diseases compared to pure breeds. Also I believe the life of an animal doesn't have monetary value.

I count as a blessing every pet I received until now. They all were healthy and jolly, none of them have suffered any serious disease. And brought to my life plenty of joy.

 

All of my pets have been a gift. I never really buy them because I disagree with how much breeding is exploited but I will always be willing to adopt. I've had a wide variety of pets this way. Taken care of everything from owls to rabbits and parrots.

 

I adopted my Dog from a rescue. I strongly believe that every animal has a personality which is beyond Money and they should only be loved and cared not become a symbol of prejudice and pride. Buying Dogs will encourage Breeders to breed dogs even with the dog's own sister or mother or brother making it both shameful and weakening the offspring. I strongly recommend adopting over buying a Dog.

 

Our first dog was given to us by my husband's youngest sister whose dog gave birth to 3 puppies. Our second dog was also given by a colleague of mine. Our third dog, a spitz, was given by my husband's colleague. The 4th and 5th dogs were given by our mechanic and vet respectively. We do not buy dogs and in fact there are more offers of puppies that we declined because our 3 living dogs are already crowding the living room.

For those intending to buy a puppy, there are many caveat so you need to seek advice from someone who knows.

 

I've got 2 dogs and a cat all of which were adopted.

One of the dogs was adopted as a puppy from a shelter because he was considered too much of a handful after what he'd been through and they were going to have him put to sleep. He's now a great loving family pet. Sure, he may occasionally decide he's not going to listen to what I tell him, but for the most part he's a great dog now. He needs encouragement to eat from time to time, but otherwise he's just fine. When we got him he'd already been neutered and had all the medical checks and vaccinations he'd need, but he did also have an injury to one of his legs that we had to keep an eye on and take him to the vets for to have the stitches out at a later time too (which was already covered by the shelter).

My other dog used to bite if you said "no" to him, so again they were going to have him put down. He'd barely been fed for months. So he would also steal any food in sight and eat it. Regardless of what it was. He'd take fruit out of bowl on the table, steal things from the grocery bags when we brought things home and have everything out of the bins on an almost hourly basis. And would bite if you tried to remove it from him. He's since learned biting doesn't get him anywhere (and in fact he's not even tried to bite anyone or anything (except his food or toys of course) for about 4 years now) and he no longer takes food without asking. Instead he'll tap your leg gently with his nose, then sit and lift his paw up when you look at him, look at what he wants then back at you again to ask for it. If you tell him "no" he'll either wait, paw raised, for a different answer, or go and sit in his bed. Yes, he was a bit of a nightmare at first, but given what he'd been through I wouldn't say it's surprising. He's a great dog now. And he absolutely adores my other dog, and my cat. All medical costs associated with him prior to us getting him were again covered by the shelter though and we had already been made aware of any issues he had - including food allergies.

My cat was adopted (along with her brother who's no longer with us unfortunately) because she had a deformed head and they were going to put her to sleep because she was weak as a kitten. Her brother was simply an unwanted one in the litter but he'd sort of look after his sister, we noticed when we saw them in the shelter, encouraging her to go to the water and food for example, so we took them both. Because of her deformity she can't eat like a regular cat and only has use of her bottom jaw. She was perfectly able to eat and drink, she was just much slower doing. It took her time, and the others would push her off and eat more themselves. Given the time and space to eat by herself (although often her brother would come and sit with her while she ate, we'd keep our other cats we had then away as they'd push her off her food and she wouldn't stand up for herself) she was able to grow stronger. They didn't think she'd live for even a year. That was back in 2003. She's 13 now and still going strong!

Shelter animals are great. Sometimes they might have medical conditions they could need additional help with, as my cat did, but they're still great pets. The female cat cost me £55 (but I did have to get her neutered on top of that, because they hadn't thought she'd live so hadn't done the operation for her, and that cost an extra £35) and the male cat I paid £80 for as he was already neutered. The dogs were £110 each. I'd say it was well worth it personally and if I was to get any additional pets I'd definitely go to a shelter to get them. The money also helps the shelters to pay for additional treatments for other animals, so again it helps that way too. They also had the option to buy some food from them that the dogs were already on and used to, so that you didn't have to upset their diet. I actually happened to have some of the same food anyway, so I didn't need to do this, though.

 

My dad bought a Belgian Malanoise dog a few months ago, but the rest of our dogs and cats were either given or just strays that wandered into our house. I also intend to buy a cat that is a Persian or Siamese cat when I can squeeze it in my budget.

 

While I definitely support adopting over buying, my girlfriend and I bought our puppy. He was pricey, but my girlfriend and her family members are very allergic to dogs. We had to be sure that we were getting a hypoallergenic dog and to be honest, when it comes to adopting puppies, you never know what you are actually getting. I know people who have adopted what they thought were small breeds and ended up with huge dogs because they turned out to be mixed with a bigger breed. Better safe than sorry in this case.

 

I won't support breeders or kennels.. I don't personally believe in it when there is such a massive issue with stray and abandoned animals out there that need a home and lose their lives because they aren't cute enough or young enough or look a certain way. All of my animals have been adopted/rescued. I've had many. I mostly take in those who are older or in some way "unworthy" of a forever home and I also rescue those I find abandoned by their people or stray mothers. Or I used to anyway. It's been a long road and after the pets I have now are gone (likely another 10 years or so) I won't be bringing in any more. Hopefully not before then either lol. As much as I want to help them all, I can't.. so from here on it will be donations and volunteering whenever possible.. but no more pets. It's too emotionally draining to go through the end of thier lives with them.. I can't do it anymore.

 

We bought, but I highly recommend adopting. It's kills me when I see my local shelter post pictures of new dogs that are up for adoption. It's even worse with old dogs because it is possible that they won't ever be adopted. Unfortunately, we had to buy because of an allergy. It's hard to know for sure what breeds dogs actually are at the adoption center. I've seen people adopt small breeds that needed up actually being mixed with something bigger. We couldn't risk it with the allergy.

 

I would never buy from a breeder or pet store for a number of reasons. There are too many cats and dogs in shelters or on the streets that need homes, many breeders and stores have terrible practices and are basically 'puppy mills', purebreds have more health issues, and they are way more expensive. Even if you're looking for a certain breed or need something hypoallergenic, you can usually find what you want in a shelter if you do a little research. Every pet my family has had we found as a stray or adopted from a shelter. I'm looking to get my first cat since living on my own from my parents and will definitely adopt, and preferably an older cat since they're less likely to be adopted.

 

All of my current cats/dogs have been adopted or taken in. My cat Pounce, who passed away last year, was bought at the store for $10. She gave me 17 great years of friendship and love. Our dumbo rats were bought at the store as well. Our dog came from the shelter, and our cats all came from "free to good home" posts or "please, my cat can't move to New York with me or he will be an outside cat in dead of winter) I love all of my fur babies, old, young, adopted and bought. They all get treated like royalty and have more attention and love than some other animals that I know.

 

Here in Hawaii where the weather is mostly nice we are given our pets mostly. I bought Pepe a very small toy mix breed dog whose mama had little puppies and their owner put an ad in the newspaper. I answered it and fell in love with Pepe who followed me everywhere and he was a very loving dog. The rest were cats and dogs throughout time that was given to us. Sadly Pepe died looking for me and he saw me and was coming to me when he got struck by a car. I had a funeral for him hoping to put to rest his loving spirit and bring him to pet heaven.

 

Well, I have purchased and adopted dogs both here in the United States. Honestly, one can be just as costly as another. For example, I bought our current dog, a Beagle, from a woman who breeds them and sells them at a flea market. Normally, she sells them for $150, but I talked her down to $100. However, when we adopted our last dog prior to the Beagle, the agency required an adoption fee and for us to purchase a bunch of things to go along with the dog to ensure that the dog would have proper care. The adoption fee alone was $75 and after all the other stuff, we got out of there just under $200. A lot of people give pets away, even fairly expensive pure breeds, when they realize that the animal is more work than they bargained for and the children aren't responsible enough to help even though they begged for the dog.

To answer the original poster, medical care for dogs and other pets here in United States can be quite costly as well. This is especially true with any surgical procedures in particular. However, we do have one animal clinic here where I live in Ohio that does spay/neutering services and euthanizing services at a drastic cost reduction to other places in the area. They do other procedures, too. If you look around, you may be able to find a deal. I would also suggest contacting veterinary schools in your area that may perform procedures for free or at a reduced costs to give students experience.

 

My family has never bought a dog or cat from pet stores. The only pets we bought from pet stores were carps and other ornamental fish (i.e. flowerhorns, cyclids, goldfish, etc.). However, all our dogs and cats were either given to us by relatives and friends or adopted. They're mostly mixed breeds you'd found anywhere on the streets. Aside from being less costly, there's more dignity and you feel a sense of fulfilment when you adopt strays.

 

Most of our pets were just strays so we did technically just adopt them and we didn't have to pay anything to get them. For the most part they just wandered onto our area and we started putting out food for them because we felt sorry for them because they looked ragged and hungry. Thankfully none of them turned out to have any major ailments and we never had to pay anything to send them to the vet aside from the regular check ups.

 

Someone had an ad up online that they had a 1yr old akita Puppy, and they were moving away and didn't want to keep her. They ad mentioned they would be forced to turn her over to the pound if a home was not found. We saw her pictures and ended up going to get her that evening. She is an amazing dog and interacts with the kids so well and is very protective (in a good way) of her home!

 

I have never bought a pet before, well, only my fish, but when it comes to cats and dogs I have never ever bought any, they all have been given to me as gifts from my family and also adopted, I really would not ever buy a dog or a cat, I consider it as a bad thing coming from us, we definitely have to adopt pets instead of buying them for elevated prices, I know it may sound a little bit odd to many people but that's how everything should work.

 

I bought my dog because at the time I wasn't as conscious as I am today and because I really wanted a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
I obviously love him to death and wouldn't change it for the world, but if it was today, I wouldn’t buy a dog, I would definitely adopt. I’m much more conscious of the environment and everything nowadays and I encourage every person I know to adopt.
I have been a volunteer at an animal shelter, and let me tell you you’ve never seen happiness until you see a dog when he gets adopted!