Every year tens of thousands of animals are placed up for adoption in Indianapolis. These animals need loving, lasting homes. If you are looking to welcome a companion animal into your life here are some great places to find them.
First, you can find fantastic pets available for adoption at one of the shelters in or near the city. These organizations take in animals that no longer have homes. They often have a wide range of animals to choose from. Most shelters have all ages of cats and dogs. Some even offer adoption of smaller mammals like ferrets, rabbits, hamsters, and guinea pigs.
Adopting an animal from a shelter is a super idea. There are many shelters to choose from around Indianapolis. There are humane societies in Indianapolis, Hamilton County, Johnson County, etc. Indianapolis also has the city animal shelter as well as private shelters like Southside Shelter. Most of these organizations are nonprofit. As such, they have very reasonable adoption fees.
You can choose to adopt an animal from a rescue group as well. These groups generally are specific to a certain type or breed of animal. This is helpful for people that are looking for exotic or farm animals. For example, if you are looking to adopt a goat or a lizard you would be more likely to find what you’re looking for through a rescue than you would through a shelter.
Other reasons that you may choose to go through a rescue is if you have specific restrictions on the size or breed of pet you can have. Some apartment complexes and housing editions have restrictions on the kinds of pets that you can have. Breed rescues can really help in this manner. For example, imagine you can only have a pet that is 15 lbs or less. But you’ve always dreamed of having a dog. A rescue can help. You can find a breed that doesn’t get any larger than that and contact their rescue group. You can get contact information on rescues online or at one of your local shelters.
Another excellent place to find an animal in need of a home is on an adoption website. An example of one of these websites is Pet Finder. On this site you can browse for any type, breed, size, etc. of pet that you could want. Rescues, shelters, and individuals can all post animals here for adoption. If you type in your location and a short household profile, i.e. apt/house, kids/no kids, etc., you can search for available pets that are close to where you live and fit your lifestyle. If you find an animal you like simply contact the individual or group that posted the animal.
Just as there are great places to find pets in Indianapolis there are also places that you should avoid getting pets from. Animal over- population is a serious problem. Thousands of animals are put to death every year because there just aren’t enough homes available.
For this reason you should avoid adopting animals from irresponsible breeders. People that choose to breed their animals to make a profit may not necessarily be aware of the damage that they are doing or they just may not care. But they will get the message if everyone stops adopting from these “backyard breeders”.
You should also use common sense if you choose to adopt from a pet store. Some pet stores use responsible methods of pet adoption. They work with shelters and rescue groups to adopt out homeless animals. But many others adopt out animals that have been bred for adoption.
An example of this nefarious practice can be seen with puppy mills. These are places that breed dogs over and over and over just so that they can sell the puppies to pet stores. The adult animals spend all their lives in cages. The puppies from these places often have health and emotional issues. Send a message that this practice is unacceptable by not shopping at pet stores that sell puppy mill puppies.
Bringing a homeless animal into your live is a wonderful thing to do, for both you and the animal. There are many reputable places in Indianapolis where you can find a wonderful animal to welcome into your family. No matter what type of pet that you get or which of these responsible agencies you choose to use please remember that there is a pet over- population problem in this country and choose to get your pet spayed or neutered. Thank You!
