People who say “money can’t buy friendship” aren’t considering you can buy a dog.
WHY BUY A DOG WHEN YOU CAN ADOPT ONE?? IF YOU RESCUE ONE FROM THE STREETS IT’S FREE.
Right, adopt don’t shop. Buying pets is rather bad, but don’t assume that you can just adopt or rescue for free. There are adoption fees (to keep the shelter running), license fees (because you can’t just have a dog, it has to be licensed), spay/neuter fees, vaccines, heartworm medicine, flea and tick treatment, toys, puppy pads (if not housebroken), leashes, collars, dog shampoo, food, vet visits, and anything that needs to be replaced within the first year or so of training. To presume that you can just “have a free dog” is rather silly. There are many costs to having a dog that build up quickly. If you end up just rescuing a dog and assuming that you have no money worries, you and the pup are going to end up suffering.
One, what even is a “dog license”?? Two, obviously you assume everyone wants a puppy. I would much rather have an older dog. Three, obviously there’s vet bills and adoption fees if you go to a shelter, but there’s always the huuuuge possibility you would find a stray dog in your backyard or something? There’s still vet bills yeah but I mean not all adoptable dogs come from the shelter.
http://www.licenseyourdogpa.pa.gov/files/licenseyourdog.aspx
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_licence?wprov=sfla1
Dog licenses prove your ownership of that particular dog. You can’t have a dog, it needs to be registered in case it gets lost, bites someone, etc.
And I’m not assuming that every dog from the shelter that will be adopted will be a puppy.
- The puppy pads were an example of things to buy for a new dog
- Puppy pads can be used for older dogs. My older dog had bladder issues towards the end of its life and needed them.
While not all dogs come from a shelter, there are still adoption fees. You take whatever animal you rescued to the nearest shelter to properly adopt it. You can’t just take in a stray and say it’s yours.
https://www.cesarsway.com/get-involved/helping-a-lost-stray-dog/what-to-do-if-you-find-a-stray-dog
So it’s not free to adopt a stray dog from the streets, that’s not how it works.
I have literally never had a “dog license”. The only tags any of my animals have ever had to wear is their rabies tags from the vet. And I’ve had several dogs and a few cats that I’ve taken in as strays, and never had to take them to a shelter to “adopt” them. I just don’t understand why I would have to go through all of that??
You can’t just have a dog in your possession. You need to have it registered in some form (i.e. dog license). What if the dog catcher comes around and your dog isn’t registered? Or if your dog is lost and they don’t know if the dog currently has a home. There is microchipping for dogs, but that assumes that whatever information is on it is up to date. It could be that Owner A microchips the dog, dumps them, dog gets picked up, microchips says that Owner A is the one that owns the dog even though they dumped them and no longer own them. The dog license keeps the owner and information correct and current.
You also can’t just grab dogs off the street and take them in. The dog might be just lost or may been in serious trouble. You take the dog to the shelter so the shelter can look and see if there are any current owners (via microchip and license). If there aren’t and they deem you fit enough to own the dog and the dog worthy of being owned (the dog maybe feral and need special treatment and therefore can’t be owned), then you can complete the paperwork for the dog.
https://www.rover.com/blog/how-to-help-a-stray-dog/
Also, it’s typically the law to take any strays you find to the shelter. You have to look and see if there is an owner and you have to complete paperwork saying you have taken all legal steps to owning the dog.
Listen, I’ve lived in the middle of nowhere my whole life. For one thing, there’s no “dog catcher”. Strays that aren’t brought in just roam around stealing food and maybe killing a chicken if it can get one. Also, if some dog I’ve never seen just shows up (aka no one of the neighbors dogs or one of the usual strays) you can bet that someone did a dump-and-drive and that it needs to be taken in. And no one really microchips unless it’s someone more well off and they have some full-breed lap dog. Most people where I come from legit believe microchips are “a sign of the Beast/End times” 😒
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