Pros and Cons of Adopting a Pet

When you visit someone's house, seeing a fluffy pet moving around and enjoying time with family always appears overwhelming, appealing, and attractive. At that moment, you may think it’s time to add a four-legged fluffy member to the family. Although choosing to adopt a pet is always rewarding and enhances your quality of life, you should be aware of the pros and cons. So to help pet fanciers looking to adopt a pet, we have summarized the pros and cons of adopting a pet in the text below. 

Pros Of Adopting A Pet

Let’s start with the pros. In general, owning a pet adds a lot to your life, e.g. providing companionship, improving your physical and mental health, acting as a personal guard (especially medium to large dog breeds), helping overcome loneliness, anxiety, depression, etc. However, apart from the general advantages of pet ownership, certain benefits come only with pet adoption. Let's discuss one by one.

Saving A Life

Millions of pets are abandoned every year and thousands of them are euthanized annually due to lack of space and resources at shelters. So when you adopt a pet from a shelter, you save a life, giving him a second chance to enjoy his life and live up to his natural age.

Providing A Roof To A Homeless Pet

As discussed above, millions of pets are abandoned every year and shelters are generally overburdened. Even though animals in shelters live under a roof, they deserve a much better quality of life than they are forced to live in. So by adopting a pet, you not only give a homeless animal a new home and family but also a better life.

Create Space For Other Homeless Animals At Shelters

Since most shelters have limited space and resources, by adopting a pet you enable the shelter to accommodate another abandoned or homeless animal in place of the pet you adopted. And while staying at the shelter, he is more likely to meet his dream home and family.  In other words, you end up saving two lives, instead of one.

Saves You A Lot Of Money

It typically costs thousands of dollars to buy a pet from a breeder. The amount you may have to pay depends on the pet's breed and quality, as well as the breeder's experience and reputation. On the other hand, deciding to adopt a pet from a shelter costs you much less. Sometimes you may get it free, however, most shelters have a very nominal fee that is nothing compared to what you have to pay a breeder.

Cons Of Adopting A Pet

Pet Owning Cost

Whether you adopt a pet or buy it from a breeder, the cost of pet ownership is the same. You will have to vaccinate and deworm your pet, ensure regular visits to the vet (at least once a year), spend on pet food, and arrange different pet accessories (like toys, litter, litter box, etc.). Furthermore, in case of emergency, you may have to bear a lot more expenses than expected. Though adopting a pet instead of buying allows you to save a lot of money; you can't compromise on the factors mentioned above because now the pet depends on you for its basic needs. So, before you adopt a pet, keep this aspect in mind.

Don’t Expect A Specific Breed

Though before visiting a shelter, you must have an idea of what you want to adopt (type, size, age, breed, etc.), you may not necessarily find what you are exactly looking for. Most pets at shelters are crossbred, and you may not find a specific breed or color pattern. So don’t be overly committed to your choice and try to find the best match.

Unknown History/Unpredictable Behavior

Since we don't know much about the previous lives of most pets at shelters, they may behave unexpectedly. If the pet you adopted was mistreated, or beaten or may have undergone some trauma, he will behave differently. Some may be very depressed, scared, or afraid, while others may be too aggressive. Their behavior can be improved with patience and proper training. You can also hire a professional pet trainer for this purpose.

Need Time To Settle

Even if the pet you adopted didn't suffer any trauma or doesn't have any bad memories, it may take weeks to months to adjust to a new place and to feel comfortable with the new family. So make sure that you have enough patience and necessary knowledge to handle your pet during this period.   

Is It Worth To Adopt From A Shelter?

Yes, adopting a pet is worth it, and the pros outnumber the cons by a large margin. Cons are not cons in the real sense, they are just about making yourself a better pet parent and gaining necessary knowledge about pet handling. You save a pet's life, and it enhances your own, so it’s a win-win situation.

From Where You Can Adopt A Pet & Get Pet Accessories In Dubai?

You can easily adopt a pet from a shelter located in Dubai after fulfilling some legal requirements. A team of experts at “Pets Lounge” can help you in this regard and guide you about pet handling and care. Additionally, all pet accessories and food items are available here. You can contact Pet Lounge, where you not only get quality pet grooming tools but also a team of experts who can guide you about the breed-specific grooming needs of your dog in the summer.