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Adoption ensures that fewer animals are subjected to abuse. If you’re ready to take on the responsibility, here’s how to choose the perfect rescue animal.
Owning a pet is a joyful and rewarding experience. Not only would you get an adorable and affectionate addition to the family, but that’s also one less animal off the streets. This is precisely the value behind the advocacy: adopt, not shop, to protect every animal from dangerous situations. People are encouraged to choose adoption instead of buying bred dogs when seeking companions.
It’s not rare for pets to be turned into shelters. With the responsibility and resources required to care for animals effectively, many owners give them up, whether painfully or for relief. It’s easy to put all the blame on these individuals, to villainize them for the choices they’ve made. But if you’re fond of animals and advocate for their safety and happiness, it’s best to focus on what could be done to alleviate the situation. Adopt, don’t shop!
However, regardless of how honorable adoption is, this doesn’t make it any easier.
First Time? Here’s a Complete Guide to Adopting a Pet
Pets become valuable members of any family—devoted and loyal companions. Hence, you must earn them. Just because you’re processing an adoption doesn’t mean you can come in and take home any animal to your liking.
Sure, shelters all want their animals to find new homes. But they wouldn’t give them to anyone who comes in. They’d have to ensure you’re ready to take on the responsibility.
Renee Servello’s Freckles Finds A Forever Home outlines a similar account of what happens during adoption. As a children’s story, the book has likely simplified the process to encourage its audience. It only accounts for the moment when the bond between child and animal sparked, leading to the request for adoption.
However, it highlights the most critical factor in adoption: affection.
While there’s a more consequential value behind adoption, you don’t simply do so to serve this purpose. Instead, you must experience a connection to the animal you wish to keep. This way, there’s a higher chance that the cycle of turning an animal into a shelter won’t be repeated.
Some would call this “love at first sight,” a seemingly human experience applied to human-animal relationships. And it’s genuinely possible.
So, how do you choose the perfect rescue animal for you?
Here are some tips:
Ways You Can Choose the Perfect Rescue Animal
There are many ways to choose the perfect rescue animal. Some may do a quick sweep at the shelter and choose the cutest-looking of the bunch. Others will spend days evaluating every option to gauge which matches their personality.
There’s no right or wrong way to select the perfect rescue animal, so long as there is a connection and commitment to keeping them for the long term.
But while there may not be an established step-by-step process, some tricks may help you choose a pet efficiently and excellently.
Consider Lifestyle and Commitment
When choosing the perfect rescue animal, how adorable you want them to be isn’t the most essential factor. Instead, consider what would best suit your lifestyle. Before going to the shelter, you must have already honestly evaluated your way of life and how committed you are.
Your routines, schedules, living situations, and preferences should influence your decision-making process. After all, these factors will also impact the relationship you’ll be making with your pet. Don’t be idealistic in your assessment. Instead, be realistic about the time and effort you can wholeheartedly dedicate to your chosen pet.
You must think this through because if you skip the thorough and honest analysis, your pet will have to suffer the consequences the moment you can’t spend time with them.
Research Through Your Choices
Just because you’re an animal lover doesn’t mean you know everything about them. Consider the possibility of not knowing specific information about other breeds and species. Different animals have different personalities and temperaments in separate situations.
Some may also have an active lifestyle, while others don’t. There will be high-maintenance animals that would require more effort to sustain. Knowing these will help you evaluate whether they’re the right fit for you and a match for your lifestyle. When you also research, you lessen your chances of making an impulse decision. To choose the perfect rescue animal, you must know most things about them and not pick them on a whim.
Interact With Potential Choices
There’s no better way to choose the perfect rescue animal than spending time with them. Like how you’d form bonds with other people, you must spend a significant time together. This way, you’d get an initial glimpse of how you would be together. During these moments, you can also observe and assess their behaviors, energy, and reaction to your presence.
Beyond ensuring a connection, the most important thing to do is not rush. To choose the perfect rescue animal, you must consider everything and ensure you’re also the ideal owner for them.
Remember, adoption is a two-way process.
You shouldn’t just pick the right animal but also prove that you’re the right person for them.
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