Why Adopt?Why Adopt
There are many great reasons to adopt your next dog from HEART! Our pets live in foster homes, so we know a great deal about them before they come to you. They've been spayed and neutered, vaccinated for common diseases, and vaccinated for rabies. Our dogs have also been microchipped. Any known medical issues are addressed before they are adopted.
Independent rescue groups like HEART get many of their pets as transfers from area shelters. Many of them also function as an alternative to shelters, accepting some owner surrendered pets. By adopting your pet, you are helping make space for another animal in need. Shelters and rescue groups can only help animals for which they have space.
Ultimately, it is less expensive to adopt your pet than buy your pet from another source. When you buy your pet, you have to cover the cost of vaccinations, dewormings, spaying/neutering, and other medical issues- costs above and beyond the sale price of the puppy/dog or kitten/cat.
People often enjoy telling the story of their adopted pet. While most pets have simply ended in rescue because of unfortunate circumstances, some have had very challenging backgrounds that are interesting and provide a starting point for conversations and discussions.
Finally, by adopting your pet you are not supporting puppy mills and backyard breeders. Never buy a pet from a pet store, off the internet, or from someone who will not permit you to see where the pet was raised and allow you to meet both parents (at minimum the mother). Beware of ads in the newspaper, since many breeders use more than one location to breed their pets and sell their pets. Unfortunately, we have puppy mills right here in the Triangle and surrounding counties. They are not limited to other states or more rural counties! You can not identify a puppy mill owner by their behavior. Many are act as friendly and kind as you and I, but they hide a terrible secret. The only way to know a reputable breeder is to have vet references, see where the animals were raised, meet at least the mother, and WALK AWAY if things look dirty, the animals are afraid of you, the animals appear sick, or there seem to be an incredible number of pure and mixed breed pets available at the same location. Then report the breeder to authorities for investigation.
Pets bought from a pet store come from large commercial breeders, also known as puppy mills. Pure bred kittens sold at pet stores come from similar facilities. The conditions of these facilities are inhumane for the unfortunate breeding adult parents. No legitimate breeder with any thought for the future welfare of their puppies or kittens, would ever sell their puppies or kittens to a pet store for them to re-sell. Most pet stores will tell you with an honest face that THEIR puppies don't come from a puppy mill. But you have to ask yourself, how can a store have puppies of all breeds and sizes available at all times? Where do the puppies come from? When you look up the breeder online, how much can you really learn about them? Can you visit the facility yourself, should you wish to? There are online resources available where you can look up a puppies AKC registration number to find out where the puppy REALLY came from. Do not think for a second that AKC paperwork is worth anything more than the paper it was printed on. It means nothing as far as the health and status of the puppy are concerned. It simply means the breeder had a male and female dog in their home that had papers. You cannot even be certain the parents listed are, indeed, the parents of the puppy for sale!
Pets bought from a backyard breeder are not bred for the love of the breed or with care and thought for who purchases the puppy. The breeders do not follow their puppies to the end of their lives. They do not document genetic diseases that have shown up in the lines of their breeding pair. They do not follow the overall health of their puppies throughout their lives. They sell puppies purely for profit. A legitimate breeder will require a full and complete application and contract on any animal they sell. Their contract will include a return clause which states that should you not be able to keep the dog in the future, you may return it to the breeder. A legitimate breeder is interested in the future health of any puppy the sell and, therefore, will require the puppy be spayed or neutered as a part of their contract. The pet will also have full medical records that have been clearly written and they will have a veterinarian reference available, should you ask. For more information about puppy mills, please go here.
Remember, 25% of the dogs in shelters are purebred. For every breed of pet, there is a rescue organization ready to help you find your new best friend. Please look at our "Helpful Links" section for more about other rescue organizations!
Adopting a cat from HEART or another rescue organization or shelter is simply the right thing to do! Millions of cats are euthanized every day in American shelters! Think about that! Millions, literally. Millions more live hopeless lives in feral (wild) colonies where they are prey to predators, sick humans who use them for target practice, and passing vehicles. Cats can fair better than dogs in the wild, but they live miserable lives full of pain and suffering.
By adopting your cat, rather than buying from a breeder, you are helping a cat that lost its last home for some reason. The only chance most of these cats have for a better life is adoption. Their alternative is death by euthanasia within the shelter.
We do not pressure people to adopt OUR cats. We know that adopting a pet is a personal decision and that sometimes it takes a while to find "The One". We encourage everyone looking for their next cat to think long and deeply about the consequences to our society as a whole when buying their next pet. With hundreds of healthy cats available for adoption in local shelters, why buy? Because it is a specific breed? There are breed rescues, even for cats. 25% of cats in shelters are a specific breed. Look to the shelters and rescue groups first.
Why buy? Why indeed! We have no answer for this question! It is an unfortunate truth in the United States and elsewhere that there is no way to know if the animal you are buying is healthy, genetically sound, or even the breed you think it is!
Breed clubs, such as the AKC, cannot guarantee anything about the dog you buy. That includes the actual parents of the dog (the breeder simply has to have two dogs in the house that are the correct breed with papers). At this point it would be a nightmare for the clubs to genetically test all dogs for sale or that are being bred. They'd have to test backwards and forwards- and test that the dogs are actually pure.
There are backyard breeders that offer their beautiful dogs for sale for thousands of dollars. They allow their males and females to interact freely, so there is not way they can honestly say who bred with whom. But unsuspecting buyers will hear that the breeder has great dogs, so they buy, not asking to see where the dogs live. The dogs will have papers because at least some of the breeding dogs in the household have papers. That's all you know.
If you buy from a pet store, you are perpetuating puppy mills. There is no other term for what you have chosen to do. Whether with knowledge or in ignorance, you have decided to help support and inhumane industry that supplies pet stores with cute puppies of every breed and size. Learn before you buy. Learn about the realities of where that cute puppy comes from. STOP helping the industry!
Where do you find a good breeder? Plan ahead for your purchase- even a year ahead. Start with your local vet. Do they know a breeder in the area for the breed of dog in which you are interested? Would they recommend them? Go check out the breeder's home. Are the dogs kept in the home, or out in the barn? Even if the barn is heated and cooled and looks nicer than your house, be wary. Are the dogs (all of them) friendly? Are they happy to see you? Or do they shrink away from you and avoid hand and eye contact?
If there is no local breeder, then plan a long trip to meet the breeder. Again, the internet does not give a realistic picture of where the dog lives. Reality does not always match the idyllic scenes shown on the internet. Additionally, most good breeders will not ship a puppy to you. They want to meet the family that will be spending ten to twenty years with their puppy. They want to know what kind of person you are and meet you face to face. They don't trust the internet any more than you should!
Are the parents there for you to see? Are they clean and well-groomed (don't buy the "I haven't had time to get them groomed yet) it takes many months for most dogs to become badly matted. If you can't see the eyes or the whole body is matted, this breeder is not caring for their animals. If the home is not clean, walk away.
Ask to see the breeder's contract. Do they require you spay/neuter their pet after buying it? They should. You are not a breeder and you do not need an unaltered dog or cat. You may love your dog, but there is more to breeding than "Buddy is such a great dog. Let's see if we can breed him with Cupcake down the road. I bet they'll make cute puppies". That makes you a backyard breeder. That does not make you a responsible breeder.
No reputable breeder would permit you to breed their dogs. They want to know all about their dogs- a good breeder follows their puppies to death for generations. They can show you who was bred with whom, how the puppies turned out, which puppies had genetic defects later in life, which puppies remained healthy until death. Ask to see records. A dog that has developed defects or illnesses is simply no longer bred. A dog that has produced repeat generations of puppies with defects is never bred again. You want to know the breeder cares enough to forgo the money their puppies bring in to protect the health of future generations.
Do they state in their contact that you can return the dog to them at any time in that dog's life, no matter what? They should. A good breeder cares about the future welfare of their puppies, not just the money. They want to know what happens to their puppies, even when their cute puppy is now six years old! If you can't care for the dog, hopefully the breeder can find someone who can. Reputable breeders are usually associated with breed rescue groups. They not only breed dogs, but they help find homes for dogs of the same breed that are no longer wanted!
Our society is full of individuals that want what they want and they want it NOW. They are the folks that help support the puppy mill industry. They also support the sad lives of small animals like guinea pigs bred for pet stores. Mice, hamsters, rats, snakes, and any other animal you find in stores do not simply show up one day. They are specifically bred in the millions to help support the pet industry. The biggest hazard for small pets that survive their trip to and time in a pet store? Uninformed buyers who know nothing about how to care for them properly. But Billy or Sarah really wants a guinea pig! We can't say no- YES YOU CAN! Or, better still, help them learn about how to properly care for the animal in which they are interested. Do the research with them. Take them to visit friends who have had success with such pets. Go with the to the rescue organization to discuss what it really takes to give the pet an enriched living environment that includes more than just a wheel on which to spend hours running around. Do not expect your child to take full responsibility for any pet in your home. You are the parent and you are ultimately responsible for the care of any animal in your home. If you are not willing to take on the responsibility for a pet now that your child has lost interest, then DO NOT GET THE PET!
We've included information in our links area for local rodent and other species rescue groups. THINK BEFORE YOU BUY OR ADOPT! A pet is a living creature that has specific needs and requirements! They are not something to simply throw away or flush once the fun is gone. Learn about what you wish to have as a pet BEFORE you get one! Talk to current owners of the same pet. Talk to rescue groups about the pluses and minuses of the type of animal you are interested in adopting. They have information they are more than willing to share! An uninformed buyer or adopter is a failed pet ownership waiting to happen!