Shouldn’t all dogs be treated fairly no matter where they came from? Most people think that rescued dogs are dangerous and should not be pets. 

Fia Sharp, a WESS 6th grader, echoes some fears when she says, “When I think of rescued dogs, I think of stray dogs, boney, stinky and homeless.”

There may be limited truth to this, but don’t judge these dogs by their covers. Most rescued dogs have been through traumatizing experiences like being abused by their owners, starvation, dehydration and dog fights over food and water. Even when the dogs are safe in the shelter, shelters could be crowded and short on food, and dogs could go hungry. Although these dogs can be aggressive, they are like any other dog. If you take good care of them their behavior will reflect it.

If too many dogs are in shelters, shelters could throw dogs out or put them to sleep. According to the ASPCA, https://www.aspca.org/animal-homelessness/shelter-intake-and-surrender, “Every year, approximately 6.5 million companion animals arrive at one of the community animal shelters nationwide.” These dogs/animals are usually surrendered, this means owners take them to the shelter because they can’t financially afford to feed them or take care of them. Most of these dogs have diseases that shelters need to take care of before they can find a home. 

Even though people all around the world adopt rescue dogs, shelters are overpopulated.

The ASPCAreports that “Approximately 3.2 million shelter animals are adopted each year (1.6 million dogs and 1.6 million cats).”

Fia adds, “I honestly would rather have a dog from a breeder, not because I don’t like rescued dogs, it’s because I want a choice of all dogs, not just the dogs that are there at the shelter.”

Fia also thinks that “Pitbulls are a dog that would attack.” 

According to iheartdogs, https://iheartdogs.com/15-most-common-dog-breeds-found-in-shelters.  The most common dog in a shelter is an “American Pit Bull Terrier”, these dogs have a reputation of being violent and killing other things. Most people are terrified of Pitbulls, and don’t want to adopt them. Not all Pitbulls are scary though, some Pitbull owners abuse their dog and that is what makes them so violent. 

Sadie Alvarez, a WESS 6th grader, adds on. “I hate pitbulls with my whole hert. A past experience I had was a pitbull chasing me down the road.”

Even though we should never judge these dogs, we should still take precautions when around one. The dog you bring home from the shelter might have endured rough experiences and might be more prone to attack humans as a result. They could also be scared of other dogs because they got into dog fights. You should always be careful when around a rescued dog, you never know where they are coming from.

In other words we should learn to understand where they are coming from and provide a safe, loving environment, it’s better to give these dogs another chance. Even if they are the sweetest dogs in the world, take precautions around other dogs and people, because you don’t know what they have been through in their past life. Dogs can always be trained to be safer and kinder, it just takes a lot of work. I think that all dogs are the same and can act the same, no matter what their past life has been like.