Though I no longer have any pets my favorite is to have a dog. I haven't the chance to buy or adopt. Any dog that I have ever had was given to me as puppy. Just as you there is that bond that can never be broken. I have considered volunteering at the local animal shelter but I don't think I would have a preference in the area I would like to volunteer.
It depends on more than just those factors. I'd much rather adopt a kitten I know is vaccinated and spayed than buying one where I have to do that myself. I remember at Petsmart they were offering kittens for adoptions at very low prices and they had all their vaccinations and were fixed. I'd go for that any day.
I, personally adopted all of my pets, except for one dog. I prefer adopting pets because it's the same end result, it just depends on which road you take, and I take the cheaper road. I live about 15 km away from a shelter, and this may be a factor in this. I have adopted a cat and a dog from the shelter, both of which I love and would love even if I bought them.
I bought my first cat from a breeder. I had heard good things about this particular breed and wanted to ensure that I'd have a good pet. I brought my second cat from the pound. If I could do it over, I would have gone to the pound the first time. I love my first cat, but he's not what I expected. He's your typical, independent kitty and my pound kitty is a social sweetheart.
I have bought some pets and I have adopted many. My latest companion is Shintaro. I found Shintaro in a drain one morning. He was all dirty and his eyes were encrusted with dirt. I took him home and gave him a good bath. Then I found out that he was blind. Shintaro has been with me for about a year now. He is an almost fully-grown tomcat already.
I think I would prefer to adopt a dog simply because it is less expensive and it gives the animals who may have been homeless or abused a chance to live in a loving home. With that being said though, I currently have two dogs one I bought from a pet shop and one I adopted from our county animal shelter. I love my babies equally and wouldnt change anything for the world. The next pup I do get will be a adopted though
Personally, I prefer adopting. As you said in your post, it's nice to give homeless animals a comfortable place to sleep. When I save up more money, however, I wouldn't mind purchasing a special breed of cat. I ADORE munchkin kitties and would love to own one. I also would love to one day have a fennec fox. These animals, however, need to be purchased since they're special breeds.
As an adult, my dogs have all been adopted. My favorite breed is the Greyhound, and you can only get one through an adoption process. I also have a chihuahua mix that was adopted from a shelter, and he has been a great companion, also.
Adoption should be the normal way to get a dog. I strongly recommend it for anyone who is getting a dog for the first time. The dog does know that it had been abandoned. When you adopt it, it literally worships you, as its savior.
My fiancé and I are interested in getting a couple of different breeds, but we both really love pembroke welsh corgi more than anything else. That's why we have decided that with the corgi we want to get a purebred and will get it from a breeder. Everything else we can be more relax on and will definitely probably get it from a shelter.
As a child, we always got our pets as soon as they were weaned and trained them from day one. As an adult, I went on a rescue kick for a while and learned that unfortunately, retraining an adult who already has a set personality and bad habits is a lot harder than forming good habits from day one in a puppy. No matter how diligently I work at training and how many experts I consult, the dog I adopted at two years old (now 10 years) will never fully get past his early abuse and poor socialization. He's a good dog... mostly... but he has a lot of quirks that I was not prepared for. Next time, we will get a puppy or potentially a well socialized adult but our criteria will be a lot more strict.
I can understand that because I have personally experienced that myself. There was this ten-year-old dog that the owner could not take of anymore because the owner was an old lady and she was unwell. So I adopted the dog and called it Benjamin. It was a totally mixed breed. There's no way of telling what it's lineage was, but it was a very smart dog and I enjoyed watching how it trained the other younger dogs I had in the house.
Adopting, definitely. It is much more humane than buying, and frankly if I had the space for a dog, I'd definitely go and adopt one right now. Once I get a bigger apartment I'm definitely going to adopt one, I have been thinking of taking one that is around one year old. That seems a good enough age for adopting, neither too young nor too old.
I like to adopt when possible. Every time I go into a animal shelter I find 2-3 dogs that I would love to adopt. My first dog was adopted and I know how much of a bond I had with him, so I rarely have any hesitation about getting "dangerous" animals. I like cats too, but mostly dogs.
I prefer adopting (or receiving from friends) over buying them for many reasons. It is cheaper, of course, since I can get them for free but also because it helps those animals. By adopting them, you are giving them a place to live, good health, a good friend to interact with, and good food. While the same thing can be said about buying pets, I always thought that by buying pets, it means we are giving the money to people who breed pets for cash. It doesn't sound right to me and I don't really trust those animal breeders as there had been multiple cases of animal abuse. That's why I prefer receiving them from animal welfare organizations than those breeders who breed animals for cash. Maybe if the demand for paid pets is low enough, they will give up and leave everything to animal welfare agencies.
I'd want to look in a rescue first. It seems most humane -- those are the animals that are the most in need of shelter. I don't really care if then they would already behave a certain way... It's like adopting a kid. They just need love, and I would not be offended that they have a personality just because I'd rather prefer to "shape them" like I wish. Pet stores should be the last place to get pets. They're horrible with the living conditions, and pets really should not be kept in those cages/behind the glass. Adopting through friends/online and buying from breeders are also okay options to me. I did buy my hamster from a pet shop though, since we could not find any roborovski anywhere. At least the pet store was competent and kept them in a big enough environment and gave them proper lil' houses and tunnels to play with. They did leave females and males together (though they were just 6 weeks old) so that shows a bit of a mistake.
All of my cats are rescued. I definitively prefer adopting to buying. Adoption is a lot easier than rescuing because generally they are given to you in good health, with vaccines and sometimes even spayed or neutered. Also cats for adoption have already lived with humans and you can interact with them to see if the personality is a good fit before adopting it. When you rescue one of the street it can be unpredictable. I don't support buying pets unless it's from a responsible and legal breeder. And even then, there are lots of purebreds out there for adoption. Unfortunately, I've never known of such a breeder here. All we have are sketchy backyard breeders that don't care for the animals at all. I wouldn't say that buying is always wrong, it in most cases it is. There's so many animals out there that need a good home. Even if there aren't in your area, I know some organizations will ship dogs to other states and such.
I've never had a dog or cat, but I am definitely thinking of getting one as I get older and move out. I would say that I would much prefer adopting over buying. All animals need love, and most of the animals that people adopt are probably not in the best of environments. Also, you hear news of puppy mills and people that use very inhumane methods to make money from selling pets. That is very concerning, so unless I absolutely trust the breeder, I would probably adopt instead.
I think it depends on your needs or what you want at the moment, so I would have to say both. If I really want a Siamese or Persian cat and I can't adopt one, then I am forced to buy one. But if I see a stray cat or kitten roaming the streets, then I try to take it home with me if he or she wasn't feral.
