Pet store pets or pound pets?

Hi whywiki, I agree with you about the animal shelters, the SPCA is where I've gone for my last two cats. I'm sure that I would fall in love with a dog or cat wherever I saw it, but there they have already had their shots and have been fixed. Sometimes too, they really haven't had a good home before. Blessings.

I've adopted from pounds. There is a big pet shop here that holds adoptions on weekends with pets from the local shelters. Many of them do get adopted after screening to see if the people are good for the adoption, checking with landlords if they rent to make sure they are allowed to have the pet on the premises. I can't stand to see anything from these mills. I really wish this country would do more to shut them down.

I get my pets from local, individual breeders. That way you can see the parents of the litter and judge from their character and that of the owners. Remember - like owner;like pet! Animals from the pound can come with a lot of physcological baggage which you will have to ease out of them with a lot of loving. It can be done, but do you want to start off a lifetime with your pet with a big hurdle to climb before you start? OK, I have taken on a pound dog which seemed to be perfect in the pound. Then the problems started with agressive behaviour which took years of loving to overcome. Other friends have been luck but again, other friends have had a 'dog from hell'!

Neither one for me as I am adopted by strays everywhere I go. I do not go to pet stores or animal shelters, nor do I even like to think about them as my heart is too easily broken, I want to take all of them home with me.

whywiki- sorry I'm so far behind on discussions. I think this discussion is talked out, so many people participated and I missed it! My too late contribution is this I bought a Siberian Husky from a pet store in a mall. We brought her home and the next day I left her in the kitchen and went to work, dropping my three kids off on the way. Well, we came home and that poor dog had puddles of runny poop all over the kitchen floor. I scooted all the kids outside and spent hours with lysol cleaning things up. Free vet care comes with animals from those kind of stores, to guarantee their health. Very nice except you have to go to the vet the pet store uses and that was across town, 45 minutes away. Try taking three kids and a sick dog across town during rush hour for six days in a row, with no success. We had to keep the puppy in the garage when we were gone, it was easier to clean out, and not as disturbing as seeing it on the kitchen floor. The vet was at a loss. He ran all sorts of tests and couldn't find anything wrong with the dog. One night at 7pm he called me. I was very impressed that he cared enough to be worrying about our dog after working hours. Guess what he suggested? Adding 1/2 cup bran cereal to her dog food and the illness was cured!Can you believe I was dumb enough to buy another dog from a different pet store years later? That dog ended up being put to sleep because out of nowhere, he lunged at one of my kid's friends, just missing the jugular vein. My pet days are over anyway. My other pets came from breeders or the shelter and if I ever got another pet, I would choose a local breeder or the animal shelter. I thought they stopped selling animals in pet stores!

Pound puppies, any day! Pet store puppies and kittens are usually from mills and buying them supports that unethical, disgusting practice. You have a better chance of getting a healthy dog from a pound, in my opinion; because, as you said, they check them over, usually spay/neuter and give them the shots they must have. There are some pet stores that sell/place pound puppies, and that's fine with me. It's the places that buy puppies from 'breeders' that upset me.

Definitely pound for me. It's not uncommon for pet store animals to be carrying diseases or parasites, because there is just no interest in screening. And as you say, they often come from puppy mills. Pound pets are better screened and cared for. The third option is of course a professional breeder if you want an animal with papers. That's an even more expensive option, but then you can often get dogs that have some initial training.

I watched a show on Oprah about animal farms where they breed the pets that pet stores sell. It was awful. These poor things are breeded like animals and live in terrible conditions. It wasn't just the few that Oprah was showing but she found that almost all of the big farms are abusive to the animals. So after watching here show I would never buy an animal from a pet store, ever again. I will only buy them from a shelter from now on. I don't want to be part of the breeding communities because I don't want to be responsible for the way they are raised. If everyone quit buying them from pet stores than these places would have to shut down because they wouldn't have any buyers. That would be a good thing.

Yes I agree with you seeing those innocent animals in cages awaiting for someone to just take them home and care for them. I got a cat from an animal shelter he was a year old. I had more fun with that cat he was so loveable. About 8 months after I got him he got out and never came back. My heart was broken for he was an indoor cat and I had grown attached to him. I have another cat now and he is just as loveable as the one I got from the animal shelter and I am very cautious to make sure he don't get out. I hope alot of those pet's could just get adopted by others and have good homes.

You and i share the same about that. Say No about that! maybe we should do some campaign and stop that cruelty!, how with me stand up. hahaha thats how i can think off.

I'd prefer to get pets from the local shelter myself. That's how we wound up with our latest find (a chinchilla). We got the pet, a cage, some food, food dishes, and some bedding for 10 bucks. Want to know what all that would have cost at a Petsmart? Well over $200.

I don't have space for a dog right now, but when I do I will go through animal shelters. I started thinking the other day about how sad it is, that when the elderly die a lot of times their pets have no where to go!! I can't stand the thought of some faithful dog sitting in a pound unable to go home with anybody because he's no longer a cute puppy. :-(

I would rather adopt from the humane society. At least you know the animals history before adopting them and also you know that they are up to date on all their shots. Where as if you were to adopt from a pet store, these are pets that you don't know where they came from and how they're history is and if they have even had their shots. The only thing I would get from a pet store is a reptile or fish thats it. I have adopted a kitten from the humane society and learned about her history and knew that she was up to date on her shots.