The slogan “adopt, don’t shop” was created in 1984 by a Los Angeles organization called “Last Chance for Animals,” and its meaning is just as important today as it was almost 40 years ago. 

By now, everyone who owns a pet has likely heard of this phrase, although many may not realize the importance of its message. In simple terms, this saying promotes the idea that adopting animals from shelters or rescue groups is much more humane than “shopping for” or buying a pet from a pet store or breeder. But why is that? Don’t all pets deserve loving families, regardless of if they were sold at a store or not? The answer is yes, obviously. All pets deserve to have good people to take care of them, which is why buying pets from breeders actually ends up causing more harm than good. 

Pet breeders and organizations like puppy mills are constantly trying to acquire more and more animals so that they can sell them to make profits. This constant cycle of bringing more animals into the world contributes largely to animal overpopulation (especially in shelters), a problem that is becoming increasingly more concerning with time. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, “Approximately 6.3 million companion animals enter U.S. animal shelters nationwide every year. Of those, approximately 3.1 million are dogs and 3.2 million are cats.” In addition to this, “an estimated 70 million homeless dogs and cats are struggling to survive,” as reported by PETA. These millions of potential pets live in horrible conditions while people breed dogs just to sell them, even though there are millions of already-living animals waiting to be brought into a family who will care for them. When it comes down to it, it is easy to see that dog and cat breeders do not actually care about the well being of animals, but rather just the money they make off them.

Another aspect of breeding which makes it even worse is breeders’ interest in purebred animals, which is most often due to the fact that this kind of pet sells for more than those that are not purebred. Unfortunately, breeders often resort to inbreeding in order to attain animals with “pure” bloodlines, which ends up being worse than mixed-breed pets. In fact, inbreeding can cause life threatening disabilities including blindness, deafness, heart defects, epilepsy and skin problems according to PETA. Not only do these defects make life painful for the animals, they can also cause them to be subject to being sent to a shelter, and even worse, being euthanized. Shelters already euthanize 1.5 million animals per year in order to make room for new animals that get brought in, and inbreeding (which is often caused by the action of breeding in itself) only adds to this high number. 

Adopting animals from shelters or rescue groups is both beneficial for the pet and for the person adopting. For one, most of the shelters and rescue groups require people looking to adopt to fill out an application and prove that they have a safe home for an animal to live in. This is mostly to ensure that the applicant is truly committed to wanting a pet, and ends up basically guaranteeing that the animal will have a secure, forever home. Another benefit to adopting is that it almost always costs less to adopt. The adoption of a pet tends to cost anywhere from $50 to $375, whereas purchasing a pet typically costs at least $1000. Additionally, the people looking to adopt can choose the age of their pet to a certain extent, while the vast majority of pets bought from breeders are puppies and kittens. Although they are adorable, it is understandable that not everyone has either the time or commitment to raise a baby animal, as they are more work than an older, already-trained cat or dog would be. 

With all this being said, if you are looking to get a pet anytime soon, please consider adopting instead of ‘shopping.’ Not only does it have benefits for you, it also helps to slow the breeding industry and give animals the family they deserve.