For families in the western communities thinking of opening their homes to a new furry member in the New Year, please visit our county shelter, Palm Beach County Animal Care & Control, located nearby at 7100 Belvedere Road, because someone is waiting for you to show up and adopt them, giving them a second chance for a new life in a loving home.
In exchange for your care and affection, these animals will gratefully return your kindness with loyalty and love. For many of these animals, their time at the shelter before they will be euthanized is running out, because, unlike local nonprofit shelters, the county must take in all animals, and there is no room to keep them all forever.
At the county shelter, not only can you find a lifelong animal companion but the low adoption fee includes spaying or neutering, current vaccinations, microchipping, protection against fleas and ticks, and much more. Compare this with an expensive pet shop or online purchase where, for your hundreds or even thousands of dollars spent, all you get in exchange is an animal with no guarantees about the conditions under which that animal was bred.
Everyone has heard about the terrible conditions in puppy mills, and pet shop abuses and neglect, and no one wants to willingly support this type of cruel industry. If you truly want an animal for love and loyal companionship and not to show off as an expensive possession you purchased, then adopt; please don’t shop. Make our community a more humane place to live and set a caring example for the children in your lives. The shelter web site is www.pbcgov.com/publicsafety/animalcare/adopting_pet.htm.
Debbie Lewis
Royal Palm Beach
