Adopting Rescues vs. Puppy Mill Dogs

Over 60 million families in the United States have dogs in their homes. Of those 60 million families, only 1.6 million dogs were adopted from a shelter or rescue.

When buying a puppy from the pet store, do you realize you are supporting puppy mills? At puppy mills, the dogs are kept in small cages? Many of them are filthy, unsanitary, and most of the dogs end up getting sick because of these conditions. The more puppies people buy from the pet stores only encourages the puppy mills to keep up their businesses.

We have a moral obligation to end the overpopulation crisis to reduce the number of unwanted, homeless dogs. When people buy from breeders and pet stores instead of adopting from animal shelters, they deny good and needy dogs a chance at the right, loving home. As long as people support a market that treats dogs as profit-generating commodities, we will continue to struggle with the overpopulation crisis.

Why Rescue a Dog

Millions of lost and unwanted dogs and cats end up at animal shelters across the U.S. every year. And the sad part is half of those animals must be euthanized because of simple math: There are too many animals and not enough good homes. This overpopulation crisis is a national disgrace.

If the dogs are found roaming the streets and they don’t have identification to help them find their way home, or because their humans couldn’t take care of them, 3 million dogs will end up at a shelter. Only about half of the dogs will be adopted, and unfortunately, the other half will be euthanized because the shelters get overcrowded. 

Looking For a Puppy

If your family is dead set on a puppy or kitten, animal shelters have plenty of healthy and happy young animals to choose from. For many families, the best choice for a new animal companion is actually adopting an adult dog or cat. Adult animals are calmer and less destructive, and you can see what you’re signing up for in terms of personality, size, and energy level. Animal shelters or rescues are a great place to find that perfect match.

Shelters and Rescues Are So Sad

We get that the shelters can be depressing compared to the pet store, and a lot of people can’t go there because it hurts their hearts. If you think it’s depressing for you, imagine what it’s like for the animals who have been abandoned there. When you adopt an animal from an animal shelter, you have the satisfaction of saving a life, and there’s nothing depressing about that! 

Should I Buy From a Breeder?

Many people think that adopting from a breeder is another way to be a responsible fur-parent. But if you think about it; there are only so many homes available for dogs each year, and for every slot filled from a breeder, there’s one less home available to a shelter or rescue dog. Just like pet stores, each time breeders sell a litter, they’ll be motivated to breed and sell another one. 

Purebred vs. Mutts

Have you heard the myth: “Purebred dogs are healthier and live longer than mutts”? The fact is purebred dogs are increasingly suffering from limited gene pools and have many breed-specific health issues. Cancer, respiratory issues, joint problems, heart disorders, and epilepsy are all seen frequently in purebreds. 

Animal shelters currently provide only 10 to 20 percent of the animal’s people take into their homes. By making animal shelters and rescues the first choice for finding a furry companion, we could dramatically reduce dog and cat overpopulation and save countless lives.

Wags and Walks

This past Saturday, we went to the Gala to support Wags and Walks. Wags and Walks is a rescue located in Los Angeles, California, founded by Lesley Brog. Lesley is the daughter of a veterinarian and saw a post on Facebook about a dog that needed to be adopted. If he was not adopted that day, he was going to get euthanized the next day if he didn’t find a home. 

Lesley responded to the post, saying that she knew the perfect family. Since that day, it has been her passion to save these beautiful pups, no matter how big or small they are. All dogs need a fur-ever home where they will be loved and cherished by their human parents. Lesley was devastated over the number of healthy dogs that were being euthanized in the local overcrowded LA shelters.

In their first year in business in 2011, they were able to help save 25 dogs from being killed. Since opening their “doors” in 2011, Wags and Walks have saved the lives of over 4850 dogs!

Supporting Shelters and Rescues

This is our Tuxedo. We sure do love this guy! Tuxedo had extremely dry skin and coat issues when we first got him. We searched high and low for a Non-GMO and toxin-free product that would help our fur-baby and couldn’t find one. We began researching and formulating a clean, sustainably sourced, toxin-free solution. Seeing Tuxedo’s dramatic improvement inspired us to create our business, Vital Pet Life. 

We, at Vital Pet Life fully support shelters and rescues. We support them as they are doing stuff that we can't do but would love to do. We have always wanted to help animals but it takes a village to do what Wags and Walks and all the other rescues around the world are doing. To us, they are heroes. Luckily with our products and business, we can help support them.

Buy 1 Give 1!

You can also help support Wags and Walks!  On your next purchase of any of our products, use the code WAGSANDWALKS during checkout. Get 5% off AND we will give Wags and Walks will get a bottle of the same thing you purchased to help their pups that are in need while in their care. 💙

Photo Hilary Haliwell