There Are Many Reasons Why Pet Adoption Is Rewarding: Here Are Seven of Them

Name the most rewarding thing in your life right now. GO! Exactly – I heard us in unison say, “Bun-up-ty-ig.” Which as we all know was the sound of all the pets we own being named. Kids are great too, but let’s hear it for the furries! Oh wait, this just in: apparently the term “furries” is used for something else. Moving right along.

Here are just of few of the countless reasons why pet adoption and rescue is so rewarding:

Community/long term benefits:

You actually save a life.

Adopting from a shelter can literally save the animal from being euthanized. You’re a literal lifesaver! Suck on that for a minute.

Adopting from a shelter will usually guarantee shots are up to date.

The animal will typically be spayed or neutered too. That saves on initial vet bills and keeps more dogs off the streets.

Connect with people and your community.

Walking your dog helps you get out and meet neighbors and keep your eye on things. It’s a great way to patrol your streets without breaking out binoculars and spying (not that anyone would do that).

Personal benefits:

New coworkers during a pandemic.

Things have been looking bleak around the water cooler as you work from home and the new pet is going to almost double the gossip.

Reminder that you have to get up and do something today.

If you are struggling with some heavy mind-stuff, sometimes having that one thing you need to take care of will keep you going. Rewarding yourself with a reason to get up the next day is a net gain in my book (but seek human/mental health support, too!).

Crumb control.

I don’t always answer the door without cookie crumbs sitting on my boob shelf, but when I do, it‘s because of the dog. That bitch will sniff out and eat the smallest remnants of food. Nobody seems to notice yet, but soon they will.

Safety.

People get “beware of dog” signs for a reason: because they deter people and keep you safe. Two sub-points: you could technically save money and just make the signs without the dog. Our “beware of guinea pig” signs were vandalized within 5 minutes, so I wouldn’t go that direction. Funny enough, we didn’t have any crime before or after that in our neighborhood. They were just that mad about our guinea pig security system.

Written by: Mandy Waysman