Should you buy animals from pet stores?

Claire Ash, Howler Staff Writer

There are many popular pet store chains in America, selling pet products, services and small pets.

There are numerous different options when it comes to adopting a pet: rescuing, animal mills, pet stores and shelters, but are pet stores such as Petsmart and Petco a good option when it comes to getting a pet?

What happens to inventory that doesn’t sell? It goes on sale. That’s what pet stores do with their animals too; they sell their puppies for a fraction of what they charge their customers for.

It is not uncommon for a pet store-bought pet to get sick after a few months or less of having the pet. Usually, pets sold in pet stores have many health problems and diseases.

The problem with buying puppies from pet stores is that they usually have very bad health conditions because so many of the pups are coming from puppy mills, where they are not taken good care of before coming to the store.

Many people think that if they adopt a dog from the pet store they will be saving it, but actually, they are just supporting the puppy mills that the dogs come from. The more animals that are bought the more money the puppy mills make, keeping them in business.

Overall, buying pets from a pet store is not the best option. Rescuing or getting animals from a shelter or licensed breeder is the better option when it comes to adopting a pet.