Persuasive Essay On Homeless Animals

The number of animals entering shelters is continuing to rise; about 7.6 million animals enter shelters each year (“11 Facts par. 6), that is roughly a total of 19,726 that are introduced to shelters across the United States in one day. The animals at shelters are of various ages, sizes, and some are even trained. Pet lovers looking for a companion have options of adopting from a shelter, a rescue group or buying from a breeder. Those who often buy do so because they believe shelter animals are violent or that they lack purebreds. However, most of the animals are trained and though only 25% of dogs that enter shelters are purebred (“Puppy Mills” par. 12), the fact that “homeless animals outnumber homeless people 5 to 1” (“11 Facts” par 4) shows

Inbreeding is used by these commercial breeders for producing purebreds and continues over multiple generations. Ultimately, this causes many health issues to arise due to the lack of diversity in the genetics of the animal. Interbreeding often results in “..painful and life-threatening genetic defects in “purebred” dogs and cats, including crippling hip dysplasia, blindness, deafness, heart defects, skin problems, and epilepsy” (“Breeders” par. 5). With these disorders or defects, most animals remain unadopted; furthermore, commercial breeders do not have the necessary equipment to care for the animals and hence this group ends up being euthanized. A case where the health of an animal was harmed by infrequent care was found when a woman bought a kitten from a breeder in Idaho for $700. After the kitten arrived sick, she reported it to the Idaho Humane Society hoping they would question the breeder. She did get their attention and the site was raided. 323 cats were found of which 177 were in poor health conditions. The sick cats had been living “among the decomposing remains” of those that had already died (Lacoste 1). This is not the only case where profit was chosen over an animal. Thus, in order to give animals their best shot at a healthy and enjoyable life, they should not be interbred by commercial breeders rather adopted from shelters that already have lovable