Companion Animals and Sheltering (5)
There are approximately 6.3 million companion animals that are in shelters at this very moment in the United States according to the ASPCA. When there are approximately 1 million purebred puppies born every year in the United States. There are dogs and cats that wait in their shelter, waiting to be adopted, when they are being passed up for the “perfect” dogs the purebred puppies. Purebred puppies and cats have been genetically altered more than the mutts found in shelters. They have been altered to meet the wants of the people. They have been anthropomorphized to attract people to them.
There is a large debate on companion animals and those that are placed in shelters. There are many puppy mills and breeders that pump out dogs every year while hundreds of shelter dogs and cats are getting euthanized every year.
While purebred puppies you get to grow with the puppy from when they are eight weeks old and adopted dogs are usually adopted at six months of age, the long term effects of buying versus adopting are drastic. Not only are hundreds of thousands of animals that are in shelters are being euthanized every year, puppy mills are producing unhealthy and unimaginable breeds. Our society also goes through phases of what dog is the best at that moment based off of cultural settings as well as influences including movies. Once people get a puppy based off of their ideologies and beliefs and the reality hits them that it is a living being they return their pet to the shelter. After Christmas every year on average 25% of pets are brought back to shelters, returned. while it is amazing dogs and cats are being adopted every day there are also some people that should not own an animal. What is the better option euthanasia or bad home? While no dog deserves to be killed because there's no room for them they also do deserve the best life possible. Sadly those that are more expensive and pure receive better care throughout their life on average it still does not justify the actions shelters are forced to be put through.
