The Truth About "Free" Pets

Bonnie Chait
Animal Rescue Fund (ARF)
arf@nctv.com
882-4488

If you think you can really get a “free” pet think again.
First of all you have to feed them something, and even inexpensive food is not free. If you are going to be a responsible pet owner you will provide food, shelter, plenty of fresh water, and veterinary care. I am not talking about a roadside veterinary clinic but honest to goodness veterinary care. If your pet does not listen to you and runs out in front of a car, or eats your 2 year old’s favorite toy,
or gets into the garbage and devours last night’s chicken bones you may find yourself in the position of needing a veterinarian. This is above and beyond yearly vaccines required by law….again not free. Then you have to consider spay/neuter and if you do not take care of this you may find yourself with 4-7 “free” pets to care for instead of one.
Possibly the biggest problem with a free pet is they are often sick and have not had vaccines so right off the bat you have unexpected expenses for your “free” pet.
On the other hand if you adopt from a shelter you will be getting a healthy vaccinated pet and their spay/neuter will already be paid for. This is quite a bargain when you add up all those expenses. If you adopt from our shelter you already have a veterinarian on board in case you have problems the first few days.
So, next time you think about getting a pet be realistic and consider that it is going to cost you something. The real question is how can you get the pet best suited to your needs and do it most economically.

Visit http://arfsc.homestead.com to see a current list of adoptable pets.