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Adopting A Dog From A Shelter

27 11:39:26
This may surely surprise you but Benji, the dog that appeared in the movie "Benji: Off The Leash" was found on the streets of Gulfport and was then adopted from the Humane Society of South Miss.

Of course, every abandoned dog will not be fortunate enough to hit the screen as Benji did, but that won't stop the pet rescuers from being happy for rescuing these poor animals. Besides, most of the animals that live in shelters can surely become amazing pets.

It would be foolish to think of a pet as a bad choice just because it ended up in the shelter. For many reasons, the pet owners may find it difficult to keep even the most beautiful dog. They may find it difficult to afford, may not have the time to look after it or may simply find it difficult to live with a dog. Of course, none of these are excuse enough to abandon them, but that's another story.

Now let us examine the reasons why the rescue dogs may be your first choice when looking for a pet.

Firstly, the animal shelters all across America are full of animals, always looking for someone to take them home. If you adopt a shelter animal, you will give some other street animal a space to live.

Secondly, you will save a lot of money buying a pet from the shelter. Some shelters list the prices of their dog adoptions between $45 up to $175 depending upon the dog's size, breed and age. The cost is inclusive of neutering, vaccinations and all other basic veterinarian care. On the other hand, if you set out to buy a dog from a pet shop, the prices would begin at $300 and can go as high as $1600 for some special breed dogs. Obviously, the huge difference in cost would also mean huge savings for you.

Most importantly, when you adopt a rescue dog, you are gifting a new life to that poor animal. Unfortunately, not all the shelters can afford to give ample and timely food to their animals; neither do they have enough space to accommodate all the animals found on the street. Therefore, sometimes they even have to put the animal to sleep when no one adopts it, just to make space for another one.

Now that we know what the benefits of adopting the rescued animals are, let's also take a look at the negative side of it. Yes, there are certain drawbacks too!

Firstly, there may be certain ailments that the dog may be suffering that may go unnoticed at first, but will show up in time. For example, Hip Dysplasia, which affects the dog's spine and causes severe pain if touched there. The pain can cause an animal to bite, which is especially a concern for those who have small kids in the house. The animal may also be suffering from other skin ailments.

What's worse is when the dogs have behavioral problems. It will take time and patience to understand why they behave in a particular way. There may be reasons unknown to you and the problems may be caused due to something that had happened before you brought the dog home. Say for example, if your dog did not get enough food in the shelter, it is likely to become extremely possessive about its food and other belongings. Such a dog will scare away someone who tries to get too close to its food and belongings.

Further, there may be difficulties in house training the dog if it was forbidden from entering into the house of their earlier owners. This is especially true with adult dogs. This could be a big concern for those who do not have anyone to let the dog out when he needs to.

Yes there are certain disadvantages. However, most of these problems have a solution and if you are a true pet lover, overcoming these obstacles can be rewarding in itself.

If saving one of these poor animals is something you would like to do, you can start off by contacting your local Humane Society or Animal Rescue League. For those who use the internet, Google can show you several options. Go ahead; You are doing a kind deed by giving a new family to a poor animal!