OK, so this topic is something not many people talk about nowadays. It may sound like a really low-key problem, but in reality, adopting pets versus buying from breeders or pet stores is definitely something that needs to be addressed.

Let me explain.

My family has two dogs. One is a pure bread West Highland white terrier that we bought from a breeder almost 12 years ago and the other is a beagle that we adopted about six years ago from the Pocono Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). Now, when we bought our first dog, Angus, my parents didn’t think twice about where we got the dog from because it all happened so fast. On the other hand, when it came to getting our second dog, Molly, it was not planned at all because we were only supposed to watch her for a weekend but ended up adopting her instead. This happened because my family liked Molly so much and didn’t want to send her back to the shelter.

To this day, I am very happy that we decided to keep Molly because it turns out she had a pretty rough past before she came into our lives. Unfortunately, Molly was kept chained up outside for her entire four years of life before a shelter rescued her after someone had called to report her previous owner for the mistreatment his animals. Prior to being rescued, it was said that she had a litter of puppies that all died because of the elements they were exposed to and the area in which they were all kept. This lead Molly to have a lot of problems that she still has today, such as trembling and anxiety.

You may wonder why I am saying all of this—and it is because I believe that dogs like Molly deserve anther chance. This not only goes for my dog, but for any and all animals out there that have been neglected or abused and are now in shelters. Some may say that those animals are lucky to be in shelters. However, a majority of the time, a shelter can only do so much to take care of these animals due to overpopulation.

After adopting Molly and seeing how cute and loving she is, it is hard to understand why anyone could have the heart to neglect, abandon or even abuse their pets. I don’t get it—I can honestly say that Molly has changed my life. Here are, in my opinion, some important reasons why one should adopt and not shop when it comes to getting a new pet.

1. There are SO many animals that are in need of a home.

It’s really sad that this is the case but all kinds of animals, including dogs, cats, birds, guinea pigs, and even snakes, end up at shelters on a daily basis. If you ever happen to volunteer or visit an animal shelter in your area, you’ll notice the incredible amount of animals that have been left by their previous owners, found on the streets, or brought in from various places for any number of reasons.

2. All animals deserve to be loved.

I mean come on. If you have a pet yourself, think of how awful it would be to suddenly just stop caring for and loving them. The animal would have no idea what is going on, what they did wrong, or why they are being abandoned and neglected. I believe that adopting a pet from a shelter is probably one of the kindest things one can do because it allows those animals that are confused and scared to have another chance at having a good life—that is most definitely what they deserve.

3. They have so much love to give.

All animals, if treated properly, have kind hearts and only have love to give. All pets rely on humans to take care of them and they just give their love back to us in return—so why neglect them? Why abuse them? Why abandon them? It doesn’t make sense. A pet coming from a shelter will give you the same amount of love as a pet from a store, breeder, etc., as long as you take care of them. I feel that all animals living in a shelter deserve that since they are missing out on the love and affection they once had or sadly, never even had.

4. If they don’t get adopted what will happen to them.

Unfortunately, not every shelter keeps the animals they receive primarily due to the limited space they have or supplies needed to take care of all the animals. This usually means that the longer the animals are there, whether they are cats, dogs or even birds, the shelter will put them down. There are even shelters that are only in business to put down the animals that come from other overpopulated shelters. So if you decide to in fact adopt a pet, you are most likely saving their lives. This is a hard concept, but it is the truth.

5. Adopting will lessen the mass breeding of animals.

Have you ever heard of a puppy mill? When thinking of dogs, in this case, puppy mills are a disgusting way of mass breeding dogs in terrible conditions. Female dogs are kept in cages for most of, if not their entire, lives to repeatedly be impregnated and have puppies that are taken away and sold—and then the process repeats over and over until the female can no longer have healthy puppies. In some cases, the female dogs never even see the outside or get to move more than four to five feet their entire lives. It is a very sad and sick business that needs to be terminated for the sake of the dogs that are involved.

Please keep in mind, I am only writing this to inform, not to bash people for buying pets from stores or breeders. Remember, my family owns a dog that came from a breeder as well. I am not pointing fingers; I am just trying to spread the word through my experience. I am so fortunate that my family came across the opportunity to adopt Molly because she deserved SO much more than she had before coming into our lives. We got to give her a second chance at the life she was meant to have. Currently, she is happy as can be and has gotten much better with her anxiety since moving into our home nearly six years ago. I am not going to lie, she is a tad spoiled now, along with our other dog—but I wouldn’t want it any other way.