Blogmas Day 12: Adopt Don't Shop

First off, I want to say this is something I strongly believe in and if possible I believe everyone should adopt their pets. Personally my family has adopted or rescued all our major pets (cats and dog) whereas we have bought the more "replaceable ones" like fish or hamsters (because their lifespan is not as long) from PetsMart. Adopting and rescuing a pet is extremely important because it makes more space for other animals to be rescued and adopted.

However, that is not the point of the article. Two years ago today we adopted my cat Lily. Lily is a black cat (sadly black cats are the least adopted because of them being "bad luck" but they deserve just a chance just like every other cat) and is currently 2.5 years old. She is extremely sweet, a cuddler and very much enjoys her treats.

Lily Belle (her full name) was my eighteenth birthday present, but I received her a week earlier. My dad and I went to PetsMart on December 12th, 2015 like we did every weekend to look at the cats and kittens brought in by a rescue group called "Cats Can." I thought nothing of it as this is something we had been doing for a while (little did I know it was because was planning this for a bit). This day I was looking at the kitties and didn't want to hold any because I would want them. However, my then little Lily caught my eye. My dad noticed this and said something like "do you want to give her a forever home?" Then there's me who is bawling in the middle of PetsMart because I could have a kitty.

This picture is from the day we got Lily.

Two years later, Lily is one of two cats we have adopted from Cats Can, but the third of five pets rescued. Both the late Sparky and Sagwa were rescued by family friends off the streets and then we took into our home. Lily and Cali came from Cats Can. The my mom's cat Olivia (it was a gift from my dad to her as Sagwa was pretty much her cat) was adopted from a friend's friend who found her.

It's thirteen days away from Christmas and a lot of people bring pets into their house for Christmas, but sadly a lot of those pets are sent to shelters because they were not prepared or they don't want them when they get too big. It's sad but it's true. So this year, if you want to bring a pet into your home please make sure you know what you are getting yourself into. Additionally shelters and rescue groups have cats and dogs of all ages so please Adopt don't Shop.

#adopt #dontshop #adoptdontshop