My family loves animals. We currently have a dog and two cats, but we have also had a guinea pig as a pet in the past. With our pets, some are adopted from shelters, one is from a breeder, and one we adopted from friends. There seems to be some controversy over whether it is better to adopt from a shelter or use a breeder. I will share my own personal experiences and why my family made the choices we did.
Our first pet owning experience came when we received a kitten from Santa when I was 6. OK, so maybe it didn’t really come from Santa, but we received a pet Christmas morning and it was love at first sight. We named him Snowy. Many years later, my parents told me about how Snowy had actually come from PetSmart when they had pets from several local shelters. My mom had tried to adopt directly from Naperville Humane Society, but they would not allow adoptions as a present and they wanted the entire family to meet the pet beforehand, which she thought would ruin the surprise. However, we still ended up adopting a shelter animal through PetSmart. Either way, he was our first pet, and he will always have a special place in our hearts.
My second pet, Sunny, was adopted straight from a breeder. My sisters and I had always had a little bit of a fear of dogs growing up. We had gotten chased by large dogs a couple of times when we would go on walks to the park, so we were always hesitant around dogs. The only dog that we would go near was our neighbor’s yellow lab, Nellie. She was always very calm and friendly. We all really did want a dog, but we wanted a dog that would be like her. When we first got Sunny, she had so much energy and she loved being around people, just like Nellie. I’m really happy we made the choice we did. Sunny helped me get over my fear of dogs. Now, I wouldn’t be afraid of adopting a dog from a shelter anymore, and I would probably choose to adopt.
Our guinea pig, Brownie, didn’t come from a pet store or shelter. A friend of ours had two guinea pigs that she thought were girls, but one happened to be a boy and they had three babies. They couldn’t keep the three babies so we took one of them. I guess technically this is considered adoption… Either way, we were so happy that Brownie was a part of our family for three years. If I was going to get a guinea pig again though, I would probably get one at the pet store. We all really miss Brownie, and it was interesting learning about a different type of pet rather than just cats and dogs.
My last pet, Cookie, we adopted from a shelter. After Brownie passed away, we decided we wanted to get another pet. We knew Snowy was getting a little bit older, so we wanted to get a younger kitten so that they could maybe be friends. We went to the Naperville Humane Society, actually right after I took my SAT in December 2018. Anyway, this was the first time in a while that I had been in a shelter. I got to interact with a bunch of different cats to see which might be a good fit for our family. After meeting Cookie, we just knew that she was perfect. Even though we originally got her in the hopes that she and Snowy would get along, so far, they each pretend to be “only” cats rather than siblings. We are still hopeful though. Cookie has brought so much crazy energy into our house. She loves to climb and jump up as high as possible. She makes us laugh every day, and she completes our family.
Families have a variety of different reasons for why they may choose to adopt their pets from a shelter or go to a breeder. I believe that it depends on the situation which one is best for the family. Either way, the families end up with a great pet and a lot of love to go around. Whatever you decide, just make sure that your family is ready for the responsibility of pet ownership. Pets bring a lot of joy, and they make a great addition to a family.