Mabel the Rescue Dog

2 min read (Articles narrated by Mabel)

Whenever someone asks Molly where she got me or how long she’s had me, she always makes a point to say that she adopted me. She wants the world to know that even high demand breeds like me can be a rescue and that adopting is so important. However, we’ve noticed that some people use the word “adopt” even when they didn’t adopt their dog.

What’s the Difference?

Adopting refers to saving a dog’s life. It means you adopted a dog that was already looking for a home. A dog that was sitting at a shelter or staying at a foster home. A dog that had nowhere else to go. Adopting is an amazing thing that all dog parents should do.

However, some people talk about how they adopted their dog from a breeder or a pet store. I know it’s not nice to tell people they’re wrong… but that’s not adopting! The correct term would be buying.

When you spend money to bring another dog into this world, that’s buying. Even if the puppy was already sitting at a pet store or at a breeder, they were still brought into this world just to be bought. And when you buy them, the breeders will just breed more puppies to take their place.

Buying and adopting are not the same thing. Adopting saves one dog’s life while buying only adds to the problem. It might be hard to believe that one word can make such a big difference, but for dogs, it does. People who purchased dogs from a pet store or a breeder need to stop claiming that they “adopted” their dog.

Why is Adopting Better?

Adopting is always better because sadly, dogs are such an overpopulated species. There are so many dogs that there’s not enough space at shelters for them all. Because so many people are breeding instead of adopting, many dogs are being put down to make more room. It’s heartbreaking!

As I said before, buying dogs only adds to this problem. As long as people keep supporting breeders, pet stores, and puppy mills, dogs will keep getting brought into this world more than necessary. Sure, dogs are great, but this world doesn’t need more dogs when there are so many dying every day.

Adopting a dog does the opposite though. When you adopt a dog, you free up a shelter space for another dog in need. Plus, you give that dog a happy life after everything they’ve been through. That’s so much more rewarding than buying a puppy. Please think about that next time you want to get a dog. Encourage dog lovers to adopt instead of shop.

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