With ADOPTION Sniff Your Way to Furever LOVE

Alka Paul
Deciding to bring a new pet home? Congratulations! Your life is about to change and in the best way possible. The feeling of being welcomed at home, those wagging tails, and a deep connection that you’ll have with your pet – it cannot be expressed in words. The best way is to adopt your furry friend from a shelter.  –by Alka Paul

A shelter is a facility that homes stray or abandoned animals which is managed by an organization committed to pet welfare. Pets are dropped off at shelters by humans who are unable to maintain them for various reasons such as – moving out of a city or country, people losing a home or a job, lack of interest in looking after their pet, family issues, and unplanned litters.

When you consider adopting from a shelter, you can first meet the pet before you make a commitment. You can then talk to the shelter care taker and find out how the pet would behave in a home environment.

Here are a few questions to ask:

• Is the pet timid or full of energy?

• Does the pet get along with humans and other animals?

• What kind of food or treats does she like?

• What is their reaction in different situations?

• Does she have a medical condition? If yes, are you ready to handle that?

The more you know about the pet before you start the adoption process, the less time it would take for the pet to adjust to new surroundings.

Here are a dozen reasons why you should adopt only

1. You are saving more than one life

We have some exceptional institutions in India that show great care and concern for these sheltered animals. When you adopt from a shelter, you save the life of a loving animal by making them part of your family. You are not only helping one animal by providing a loving home, but also helping other abused and abandoned animals to gain space in these shelters, who are desperately waiting to fit in there.

2. You get a healthy and a house-trained pet

Many of these shelters are packed with pets who are healthy and happy. They are being well taken care of by the volunteers or the authorities associated with the shelter. You are spoilt for choice in terms of breed, age, and size. Whether you want a small breed puppy, or an older dog, the choice is endless depending upon your lifestyle and space constraints.

These lovely furry beings are waiting to be loved and taken home. Most of them are already house trained and are used to living with small or large families.

3. Fighting against cruel breeding practices

Puppies purchased from a pet shop are a result of cruel breeding. They are forced to breed in filthy spaces and do not receive the necessary veterinarian care. By adopting, you would be helping these shelters instead of allowing breeders to make easy money.

4. Cost constraints minimal

In most cases when you adopt a pet, the cost of vaccination and spaying or neutering would have already been taken care of by the earlier pet parent or the pet welfare. Adoption is generally free of cost or you may have to pay a nominal charge which will be used towards the expenses of the shelter.

5. Ease of adopting a senior dog

When you adopt a mature pet, it’s easy to introduce them to your family members. They would have already been well trained with basic commands and disciplinary behaviour. And needless to say, there is nothing like the love of an oldie!

6. Love all the way

When you adopt a pet, you are bound to get unconditional love. You are also giving life to a pet in need and that would make you feel so proud and content. Nurturing and caring for an adopted pet can bring in a sense of fulfilment and lessen your feelings of loneliness.

7. Encourage others to adopt too

Adoption would encourage your family and friends to adopt from shelters too. They will admire your thoughtfulness of adopting and giving a life to an unwanted animal.

8. Having a pet keeps you healthy

A pet can reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases by keeping your blood pressure low due to their calm and peaceful nature. As they have a positive effect on our emotional and social wellbeing, we stay mentally healthy too.

9. You will become more active

Walking and playing with your pet at regular intervals will make you more active, as you will be walking more steps than usual. An additional thirty to forty minutes would be added to your normal exercise regime. And when you two go for a run together, you’ll get the perfect workout buddy to keep your health in check.

10. You and your pet become more social

When you take your pet for a walk, you may catch up with a friend and stop by to have a quick chat. You could also end up meeting pet parents walking their dogs. Your pet gets to socialise too and make new furry friends.

11. You are happier and cheerful

When you interact with your pet daily and for long periods of time, a hormone called oxytocin is released in your body which reduces stress and increases your physiological stability. This feeling of happiness is what we call ultimate bliss of being a pet parent!

12. You are getting a BFF

You are going to change a desolate animal’s whole world and bring home a best friend forever, what else could be better than this wonderful deed?

Give these furry beings a chance and you never know a fuzzy love story might be waiting for you with paws and wags!