What’s The Problem With The Pet World? Hint: It Isn’t The Shelters
With the holiday season in full swing, it is important to be intentional with our decisions. When we think about giving loved ones the gift of a new pet, we have to carefully consider which businesses we support with our purchase. Although there are some misconceptions about shelters, at FoMA we want to help inform the narrative as to the real issues in the world of all things pets.
The Problems with the Pet World:
- Pet Stores That Sell Puppies: Despite the convenience and cute puppies in the windows, pet stores that sell puppies run a profit-driven business. Because of the overall lack of awareness about the cruel, inhumane world of puppy mills and because pet stores source their “pets for sale” from puppy mills, unsuspecting buyers have no idea that the cute bundle of fur they are taking home comes from a dirty, unsafe breeding facility. Eliminating the sale of pets in pet stores is important in helping to put an end to pet overpopulation, and to creating a safe, healthy future for pets everywhere. To learn more, check out this article from the Humane Society of the United States.
- Puppy Mills: Puppy mills are cruel breeding facilities whose sole purpose is profit. Animals live in horrific conditions, and often are not humanely cared for, living in filth, not properly fed or exercised and producing litter after litter until they outlive their usefulness. Read more about why we need to help put an end to puppy mills in our September blog.
- Misinformation: Having a pet is a significant responsibility. It is one of the biggest gifts in life, but requires commitment and work to ensure that your pet is safe, happy, and healthy. If you decide you aren’t ready for a pet right now, it’s better to understand the commitment before bringing a furry friend home! One thing you don’t want to do is gift or get a pet that ends up abandoned in a shelter or having to be surrendered just a few weeks later. So, if you are thinking about bringing a pet home, do your homework first to make sure that you (and your pet) aren’t getting more than you bargained for.
How We Can Fix Some Of These Problems:
- Support Shelters: Without animal shelters, communities all over the country would be even more overrun with homeless animals than they are currently. Animal shelters care for, house, feed, enrich the lives of, and advocate for homeless pets everywhere. They seek loving homes for these pets, and the amount of behind-the scenes work and time that they invest is incredible. Shelters are a crucial conduit between homeless pets and their forever homes. But they can’t do it alone and our shelters need us –if you want to get involved, consider donating to or volunteering at the animal shelter in your county.
- Say No To Puppy Mills and Tell Others: It is clear that puppy mills are inhumane institutions, so this holiday season and beyond, if you are going to get a new pet, check your local shelter first! Pets that come from shelters deserve the same amount of love and care as pets that come from breeders. Often, they are infinitely more grateful too! If you are thinking about adding a new best friend to the family, visit your local shelter, not the pet store. And tell your friends and family to do the same. Please.
- Join the Friend Zone!: At FoMA, we have made it our mission to help end pet homelessness in the Miami-Dade area. We work towards this initiative every day in a variety of ways, whether it be through partnerships with organizations like The Underline and Wings of Rescue, projects like the WOW Mobile that provides free wellness care to owned pets in Miami-Dade County, through our weekly participation in virtual adoption events, or any of our other, impactful initiatives. We can’t do it alone though. We rely on the support of generous donors. Be part of the change: click here to sign up for the Friend Zone now!
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