Adopt, don’t shop! Remember that the next time you want to get a pet. The next time you feel you want to get a pet, always adopt! Even though there are definitely reasons to buy pets from breeders, this only leads to more harm than good for the animals. Pets give the attention and affection that all humans need. Animals can be a human’s best friend, that’s why some people get pets, but buying animals over adopting them means that there are more animals left in animal shelters. But due to overpopulation in these animal shelters, many animals are being euthanized every year, which is a serious issue. Yet, why do people euthanize pets if they are so loved and cared for? The majority of the issue stems from the fact that there are limited amounts of space in animal shelters. 

Animal shelters are overpopulated and overlooked, which leads to a large amount of animals being euthanized every year. And when I mean overpopulated, I mean a MASSIVE amount of animals are being put in animal shelters every year. To be exact, about 7.6 million animals enter animal shelters around the world. But the way our nation deals with overpopulation is not the right way. Instead of euthanizing animals, there are better ways to fix this issue. People should not resort to euthanasia and just kill these innocent, loving, and compassionate animals!

Though people realize euthanizing pets is a problem, they don’t understand the magnitude of this issue. In 2013-2014 alone, the City of Los Angeles killed 8,018 cats, 4664 dogs and 2,346 other animals. And if you love watching baby kitten videos on Facebook and marveling over how cute they are, think about the many baby kittens that are not documented and are killed every year. Because of overpopulation, 4,250 baby kittens were euthanized in 2015.     

Those numbers are too high and there are many ways that people can help. Almost everyone can help bring these statistics down. The idea of euthanasia should be the last option in trying to solve this issue. In any case, a better option would be to spread awareness about adopting pets and to adopt them! Then, animal shelters would not be as crowded and would lead to less animals being euthanized every year.

For non-animal lovers, let me explain why people should consider adopting a pet. Animals are great friends and people often have very strong bonds to their pets. Many people want this type of bond in their life and pets can give that to them. Moverover, pets are not only great friends, but they also give companionship and affection that every human desires. Furthermore in a journal written by Froma Walsh, Ph.D. at University of Chicago, children with pets are found to be more empathetic than those who don’t have pets. Therefore, families should consider adopting because it could benefit their children’s development and help them have a happier life. And lastly, many studies have shown that having an animal can really help elders both mentally and physically.

Animals not only increase mental health by reducing feelings of isolation, they also help with physical health by lowering blood pressure, heart rate, and stress. These reasons prove that animals are great. They can help a lot of people ranging from young children to adults. Hence, people should definitely consider adopting! It would be beneficial to the animal owner’s mental and physical health, and also the animal who they have just saved from being put down.

And I mean come on… these cute animal shelter dogs and cats are always down to cuddle!

In conclusion, pets are amazing. Don’t just let these cute animals to die when there is a simple solution. Just by adopting a pet can help your health and will also save a life. Adopting pets is the answer to this prominent issue and this issue can be reduced. But if this problem is not fixed and animals are constantly being euthanized, we would be killing thousands of precious lives.