President Obama recently made good on his promise to adopt a dog once he got into the White House.

Sort of.

The dog he chose is a purebred Portuguese water dog puppy — a two thousand dollar dog — which has some people up in arms over whether this is actually in keeping with his promise.  Most of us understood his campaign promise to mean that he was going to rescue a dog.  A purebred puppy from a breeder isn’t a rescue — not even if it has been returned once.

My opinion is that by doing this Obama supported breeders, who are irresponsibly contributing to an overpopulation problem that results in millions of unwanted dogs and cats every year.  No matter how well known the breeder is, or who their other customers have been (in this case, the Kennedys), it is still irresponsible to breed puppies and kittens when you know there are pets out there who are unwanted, homeless, and in some cases even being euthanized because shelters don’t have room for them.

All of our pets have been rescues of some sort.  Before meeting my husband, I was a cat person, and all of my and my family’s cats have been rescued.  One of my cats I got from a local shelter, and the other came from neighbors who no longer wanted her.  One of my parents’ cats we found roaming as an 8-week-old kitten, and the other two were both rescued from irresponsible “backyard breeders.”  Both of my sister’s cats were adopted from shelters.

Cats are pretty easy to take care of, and so it’s easy to give a few a loving home.  All you really need for a happy cat is food, water, a clean litterbox, a place to sleep, and a few fun cat toys.  The cat toys are optional, though — although there are some really fun interactive cat toys on the market, not to mention fancy ones such as Dr. Noys cat toys, many cats will be happy with nothing more than a crumpled up ball of aluminum foil and a length of yarn.

Hubby and I also have a couple of rescue dogs and even a rescue horse, but these creatures of course require more work than cats, and are therefore not for everyone.  But if you are an animal person, and are considering adding another pet to your home, I encourage you to adopt a rescued animal.  Rescued pets need loving homes just as much as any animal, but they are the least likely to find one!

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