People commonly buy their pets from a breeder, but it’s much more beneficial to adopt from a shelter. My family’s no stranger to buyings dogs from breeders, as both of our dogs were bought from one. However, if I were to get another pet, I would definitely want to rescue one. The thought of an animal living its days in a cage until it becomes too old and gets euthanized is heart-wrenching to me, and I wouldn’t wish it on any living creature.

Though 57% of animal shelters in the United States are no-kill — meaning that they don’t euthanize animals — it still means that almost half of them do perform euthanization when an animal is too old, sick or unsociable. It’s terrible to think about these things from an outsider’s perspective, but it is far worse for the shelter workers and animals themselves. Adopting a pet could not only save the life of that animal, but also the life of another due to a space opening up in the shelter when a pet gets adopted.

Regarding how people in the United States acquire a dog, 22% percent of people get one through a breeder, 40% from a shelter, 18% from a friend or relative and the other 20% from another source. While these may seem like good statistics, they leave about 70,000,000 stray dogs on the street, with only 10% of them ending up in an animal shelter. If a good amount of people opted to adopt a dog instead of buying one, more of these street dogs could end up in a home or shelter.

The only downside of pets from an animal shelter is that they might be more difficult to take care of if the pet has health or behavioral issues. However, if the person adopting them has had a pet in the past, it would not be too hard to cater to the pet’s needs. If someone isn’t prepared to own a difficult pet, then they should either be selective with what breed they adopt, or be the small minority who buys from a breeder. The problem is that too many people are lazy and just buy a pet from a breeder, even though they realistically wouldn’t have any issues with an adopted pet.

But a far worse option than breeders are puppy mills. These establishments treat dogs like goods, rather than pets, and many puppies born in these mills have diseases, behavioral problems and little-to-no contact with the outside world. Even adult dogs are treated terribly, either being killed or discarded when they can no longer produce puppies. It’s a horrible decision to support places like this and buying from a puppy mill is quite possibly the worst option when looking to adopt a dog.

The percentage of people adopting pets from shelters has been increasing over the last few years, which is a trend that should continue into the future. However, until unfair animal treatment ends, it’s imperative to continue to support local animal shelters and opt to adopt a pet instead of buying one from breeders.