Most pet owners and pet-seeking people don’t understand the difference between adopting an animal from a shelter and purchasing an animal from a breeder or local pet store. Those who do, realize how important adoption is to the benefit and welfare of animals across the nation.

The action of adopting an animal from a shelter has increasingly developed a negative connotation over the years, as many shelters across America have resorted to euthanizing animals not finding homes as fast as the amount of animals coming in. The fact is that shelters cannot house more animals than they have space for; it’s inhumane and illegal.

Some misguided individuals believe purchasing pets will positively affect and lower shelter euthanasia. This idea is illogical and often a weak excuse used to validate purchases because it’s more “humane.”

This common misconception leads to America’s domestic animal overpopulation problem. People avoiding adoption from a shelter as well as those who don’t spay or neuter their pets are the cause of the millions of animals euthanized every year–approximately 3.7 million. Breeders only add to this problem by forcefully bringing unwanted *“purebred” dogs and cats into a world with too many to begin with, while profiting off of others’ ignorance.

*Purebred is in quotation marks because when buying from an unlicensed or “backyard” breeder, one does not know the origination of the animal or what it actually may be.

“When you adopt from a shelter or rescue group, you’ll give a dog a second chance at finding a home and you will not add to the nation’s pet overpopulation problem,” said the American Humane Association (AHA).

A typical occurrence among people seeking a pet is that it doesn’t matter where the animal comes from, as long as it has a “specific look.” That can be concisely put as seeking a purebred. While it’s not necessarily a bad thing to want a specific type of dog or cat, it is unacceptable to choose to go to a breeder and purchase an animal you could have just as easily adopted from a shelter.

Yet even when a pet is available at a shelter, some believe that the animal may have behavioral or health issues, which would be avoided when purchasing from a breeder. This is a completely false idea, and in actuality, many animals that come from breeders have been overbred, which means they most likely have medical and behavioral issues that make them unpredictable and unsafe. (An animal labeled “overbred” could possibly have been inbred, in which the breeder forces incest to produce specific characteristics in an animal, resulting in severely disabled offspring, mentally and physically.)

Selective breeding accounts for thousands of health issues and deformities within different breeds of dogs and cats. On average, naturally selected births (not forced conception) are far more healthier, and mixed dog breeds or “mutts” have significantly less health problems.

There are several genetic mutations specific to purebred dogs including epilepsy, heart diseases, kidney diseases, musculoskeletal disorders, endocrine disorders, blood disorders, deafness, respiratory disorders, and eye problems.

Questions of whether or not a dog’s past is an influence on their current behavior is common when adopting from a shelter. The answer is yes, but a shelter pet’s behavior is monitored and screened before adoption is allowed.

Dogs purchased from breeders face no official screening process before being purchased, and puppies bought from breeders from puppy mills typically develop separation anxiety and aggression, brought on by neglect and abuse.

Whenever a family purchases a puppy or kitten from a breeder, they are additionally in danger of supporting puppy/kitten mills, which are factory-style breeding facilities “that place profit over the well-being of its dogs,” said the ASPCA, or the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

In a puppy mill, when “[female dogs] are physically depleted to the point that they no longer can reproduce, breeding females are often killed. The mom and dad of the puppy in the pet store window are unlikely to make it out of the mill alive—and neither will the many puppies born with overt physical problems that make them unsalable,” said the ASPCA.

Before you even think about adding a member to your family, remember that breeding accounts for millions of unwanted and euthanized animals nationwide, ultimately makes animals suffer, and physically/mentally incapacitates numerous breeds. The decision to purchase or adopt is up to every owner, but the welfare of animals across America is not.