When it comes to adopting pets, there are many options. People have different reasons for adopting a pet, and often this reason influences where they look for their new friend. For some people, whether the animal is a purebred or not is important, so they will pursue breeders. Others are interested in saving an animal from the fate of a life without a loving family. These people will typically search animal rescue organizations or animal shelters. Both purebred and mixed breed animals can be found at these organizations, as well as older animals and animals that need special care. This guide will help you explore your options when considering the adoption of a new family pet.
Choosing a Breeder
You’ve decided that it’s time for your family to have a brand new pet. Everyone is ready to play with it, feed it, clean it, and care for it every day. You know that you want a purebred, and you’ve researched the genetic and behavioral disposition of every breed, and you know the breed that’s best for your family and your lifestyle. The final step is to find a good breeder.
First, avoid pet stores. It is a known fact that most pets that are offered in pet stores come from mass breeding facilities more commonly known as “puppy farms” or “pet farms.” This is not a business practice that you want to support. It’s best to do the ethical thing and avoid them at all cost.
There are several methods you can use to evaluate breeders. Initially, obtain a list of referrals of reputable breeders from your veterinarian or local dog shows. Always visit where the breeder raises the dogs or cats, and bring the following checklist in order to determine whether the breeder is a good one.
Does the breeder:
Raise the animals in a home, as part of a family?
Have animals that appear healthy and excited when visitors arrive?
Maintains a clean area where the animals are raised?
Shows you the animals parents when you visit?
Knowledgeable about the breed?
Can produce records of veterinary visits for the animals?
Provides references?
Offers guidance for caring for your new pet and for the particular breed?
Purebred Rescue
An even better option than buying a new animal from a breeder, is to invest in saving a purebred living at a purebred rescue group. Purebred breeding groups are wonderful organizations that accept purebred animals that are typically abandoned, found as strays, or from local animal shelters. Purebred rescue organizations typically have a great deal of knowledge about the breed they work with, and usually offer a great deal of guidance for adoptive families.
When you purchase a purebred from a rescue group, you can feel good about having saved an animal from living a life without a loving family. You can find local rescue groups in your area through the newspaper classified section. A great resource for rescuing purebred dogs is to search through the contact list at the American Kennel Club. Another great resource for both cats and dogs is AllAboutDogsandCats.com, which provides a list of hundreds of national breed rescue clubs and organizations.
Animal Shelters
An animal shelter is the best source where you can find a family pet. Family shelters are home to many wonderful animals who mostly are only there because of the humans who previously owned them, not for any fault of their own. Often life changes, unrealistic expectations, or other reasons force families to give up their animals to animal shelters. Half of these animals end up euthanized because there simply isn’t enough space. This is why, obtaining your family pet from an animal shelter is the greatest thing you can do, and it is something you can feel very good about.
It is a common misconception that the animals at animal shelters are all mixed-breeds, poorly behaved, or poorly kept. While this may hold true for a minority of them, many of the animals found at shelters around the country are actually purebreds, nicely kept, and very well behaved. Many shelters even offer adoption counseling, training classes, and even discounted or free neutering. Some great resources to locate animal shelters around the country include Pets 911, 1-800-Save-A-Pet, or Petfinder. Another good resource is the classified section of your local newspaper, or the yellow pages under “Animal Shelters”.
A Pet Portrait of Your New Pet
Once you discover that special pet that will become your friend for life, there is no better way to celebrate than to commemorate the beauty and overwhelming “cuteness” of your new family friend with a painted pet portrait.
Pet portraits are sweeping the country as a very popular form of recognizing how much your animal friend means to you and your family. Pet portraits can be especially meaningful because when you see a pet portrait on the wall, it is a statement that this animal isn’t just “another animal”, but it shows that your pet is a loved and cherished member of the family.
The best pet portraits in the country are created by artist Nikky Hughes of Los Angeles. Nikky was classically trained at the Mission Renaissance art school, and she focuses on capturing not only the beauty, but the unique character of each animal. Her artwork is soft and romantic, and a portrait of your pet by Nikky will become a family heirloom for many generations.
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Anyone who has ever started looking around for an animal to add to the family knows that getting a new pet can be very expensive, and it seems almost impossible to find a free pet. Many breeders ask for several hundred dollars, even for the smallest dogs or cats. Golden Retrievers are usually $700 to $800, Maine Coon cats can cost up to $900 or $1000, and rare exotic animals run much higher.
However, considering all of the pets in the world who are currently homeless, and are living in animal shelters without a loving family, it seems unreasonable and nonsensical to spend hundreds of dollars for a pet when there are so many who need to be saved.
While there are a number of animal rescue organizations and pet shelters around the country, there is only one resource which you should always start with, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).
Healthy Pets Aren’t Always Free
Before we examine why it’s best to start with the ASPCA, which does charge some fees for adopting and rescuing pets, it’s important to note that it is possible to find a free pet, if you are careful and follow a few important guidelines.
Searching through the classified ads in the newspaper or online classified ads like PetsAds or PetsClassifieds.us, you can locate listings for free pets that people are giving away. It’s critical to understand that most free pet ads are from people who are giving away their pets for the following reasons:
They are moving to a place that doesn’t take pets.
They can no longer afford to have a pet.
They found a stray, but can’t keep it.
These are usually well-meaning people, but keep in mind that if they have a pet that they can no longer afford to keep, the pet may not be 100% healthy. If you do decide to take the classified ad route, just remember that most of the things that the fees pay for at the ASPCA, you will have to pay for anyway – including all shots, medical checkups and neutering.
It is perfectly okay to find free pets on your own, just remember that pets are never “free”. You will need to pay for the up-front (and continuing) health care for the rest of it’s life.
ASPCA and Pet Adoption
The ASPCA is a wonderful organization that helps to promote animal shelters and rescue organizations that take excellent care of animals across the country. At the ASPCA Website, you can adopt and save homeless animals in the following ways:
Find a Shelter
By clicking on the “Find a Shelter” link, you are taken to a search page where you can search for local animal shelters by city and state. The ASPCA doesn’t technically endorse the shelters listed by this utility, but it provides the search function to animal lovers who need a resource to find local shelters.
This is a very comprehensive National Shelter Directory, and it is a service to help families with lots of love to offer to connect with animals that need the love. Buying a pet from a local shelter is essentially like getting a free pet, because the fees to adopt a pet cover many of the upfront medical costs you were incur if you’d picked up the animal as a stray or free from a classified ad. Animal shelters take care of the upfront health concerns, so that when you adopt a pet from a shelter, you can be certain that the animal is healthy and well cared for.
In addition, many shelters offer a unique incentive for people to have their pets properly neutered by offering a discount or refund for the procedure with local vets.
ASPCA Adoption Center
The ASPCA Adoption Center provides listings of hundreds of cats and dogs who need a home. The main page of the adoption center explains everything you will need in order to adopt a pet. This is good to read even if you aren’t going to the ASPCA, because most shelters require the same information. Things you will need if planning to adopt a pet:
· Two forms of identification with your address on it (at least one picture ID)
· Two personal references who can be reached by phone
· Proof of vaccination for the pets that you already own.
· Proof of income
While this may seem excessive to some people, it’s important to understand that there are a lot of people out there who would not think twice about harming or being cruel to animals. The job of the ASPCA and all animal shelters across the country, is to protect animals from cruelty, and to make sure that animals are placed in homes where they have the best chances of being as loved and cared for as they deserve to be.
The benefits of adopting through the ASPCA (many animal shelters offer these same benefits):
14 days of free follow-up vet care
A leash, collar, and pet carrier to help bring the animal home
Educational literature about pet behavior and pet care
Free spay/neutering, vaccinations, microchipping and registration, all provided as part of the adoption fee.
Obviously, the only good option for finding a free pet is going through the ASPCA, or through a local animal shelter. This will ensure that you are getting a healthy pet, and you can feel good about doing your part to save an animal from a live without a home, and without love.
Support Animal Rescue Efforts With a Portrait
When you adopt your new pet, show people how much you love your new furry friend by having a pet portrait done by professional artist Nikky Hughes of Los Angeles. Nikky was classically trained at the Mission Renaissance art school, and she focuses on capturing not only the beauty, but the unique character of each animal. She will accept photos through the mail of pets, and then create stunning portraits from those pictures. Pet portraits are ideal because they can be done from a photo (as apposed to getting the pet to “pose” at a studio.)
The great thing about Nikky is that she’s a pet lover herself, and this is reflected in how she runs her business. Nikki donates 5% of every commission to an animal rescue foundation. This is a wonderful way that you can help to support the cause of animal rescue – and receiving a stunning portrait of your new pet in the process.
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1. Before any other steps, make sure that it is safe to approach the dog. If the dog is aggressive, then it is best to call the Center for Animal Care and Control at the number listed below.
2. Call the Center for Animal Care and Control (CACC) at 212.442.2076 to find out if anyone has filed a lost dog report that matches the dog you’ve found.
3. Determine if the animal needs immediate medical attention. If so take the dog to a veterinarian. The rescue organizations listed below may be able to help you with veterinary care. Some vets also have inexpensive ’stray exam rates’ for found dogs. At the vet:
* Make sure the found dog is scanned for a microchip in their neck. This microchip would contain owner information. Most veterinarians in Manhattan will be able to do this.
* If the dog is not spayed or neutered, look into low-cost options for having this done. These organizations may be able to help:
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruely to Animals – They neuter found pit bulls for free!
The Humane Society
Mighty Mutts
* Make sure the dog receives his or her shots, and is checked for worms. This is especially important if the dog is going to be exposed to your dog or others.
4. Make sure the dog has short-term accommodations. Take this one step at a time and work on the first night first. Once this is taken care of you can work on foster care.
5. Take a print or (preferably) digital picture of the dog, so that you will be able to post their likeness on various rescue websites. MORNINGSIDE B.A.R.C. can do this for you if you do not have a camera.
6. If you cannot be positive that the dog you found has been abandoned, make up lost dog posters and place them both in the dog run and various locations around your neighborhood. Be careful, these posters cannot be posted elsewhere in the park. The Parks Department will fine you or your organization.
7. Find out as much as possible about the dog that you have found. Any organizations you contact will want to know the dog’s basic temperament, in other words, is it aggressive, dominant, food aggressive, and if it has been neutered.
8. Begin notifying people who can help you find the dog a permanent home:
* Notify Morningside BARC
* Email Manhattan Dog
* Place a classified ad on Petfinder.com
* Place classified ads in papers like the Village Voice and the Manhattan News Day. These ads are free.
9. There are many rescue organizations specific to breeds. Attempt to contact these organizations first, if you can determine the breed or dominant breed of the dog you found. Then contact specific rescue organizations. Names and phone numbers are listed at the bottom of this page. Although these groups will probably not be able to house your stray, they might be able to give you some leads on someone who can help you.
10. If you need help with any part of this process, contact MORNINGSIDE B.A.R.C.
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