Shelter Pets Are Best

Shelter Pets Are Best

Introduction Buzz is a gentle, snowy white four-year- old dog who loves to have his ears scratched. But Buzz doesn't have a home. This shepherd mix lives in a cage at an animal shelter, which is a temporary home for animals. He is waiting for a family to adopt him. Michelangelo is a shy two-year-old Siamese cat with pretty blue eyes. His owner couldn't take care of him, so he is at the same shelter.

Buzz and Michelangelo are just two of more than six million animals living at shelters in the United States. Pets like Buzz and Michelangelo end up at shelters because there are not enough good homes for them. If your family is looking for a new pet, you should adopt one from a shelter.

A Second Chance The best place to find a pet is at an animal shelter. Shelters are filled with animals that need good homes. Some are there because they are lost. Others have never had homes. Some are there because their owners didn't train them properly or can't take care of them anymore. When you adopt a shelter pet, you give an animal a second chance at a happy and healthy life.

Many Animals to Choose From When you think of an animal shelter, you probably think of cats and dogs. But shelters are home to many other kinds of animals, too. Shelters often have rabbits, birds, guinea pigs, ferrets, and turtles available for adoption, as well as cats and dogs.

Healthy Pets Shelters are great places to find healthy pets. Most of the animals at shelters are mixed breeds, which means that their parents were different types. Studies show that mixed-breed animals are generally healthier than the purebred animals that many breeders raise to sell. All shelter animals are checked by a veterinarian, or vet. The vet gives the animals shots to help them stay healthy.