Before you can get your forever best friend, you have to consider whether buying or adopting would be more beneficial for you. This has been a debate for many years now, and there’s no concrete answer. Everything depends on the owner’s needs.

Morally, most people would agree that adopting pets is the right way to get them. You would be saving them from being put down, especially because they don’t get to stay at shelters for very long. You would be providing a lonely pet with a companion, the same way that they’d be offering you friendship.

Shelters have animals of many different breeds and ages. If you’d like a grown pet, there is an abundance of them that need homes. Since they’ve already grown into who they are, you will know what you’re getting yourself into before you get them, since you can observe their personality and habits. They’re also easier to manage. Young pets have yet to fully develop a personality, so adopting them would lead to an unpredictable life, as you don’t know what they’re like. Some people like that, others don’t.

When adopting, you have to be aware that the pets may have suffered from trauma before ending up at a shelter. There are a lot of pets who were abused and/or abandoned prior to being taken to shelters, and that comes with skittish behavior. It might take a long time to earn their trust, and you have to be willing to work for that.

Adopting is cheaper than buying, and the animals are usually already vaccinated, microchipped, and spayed/neutered. Some of them have even been trained. Generally, adopting is easier for owners from all angles.

Not everyone can adopt pets. Some people have allergies and can only have specific breeds of animals as pets, and since shelters don’t always have the breeds they need, they have to buy them from stores or other people. Stores only provide healthy pets, so if you can’t afford to take care of a pet with health conditions, this is the way to go for you.

Whether you buy or adopt, at the end of the day, you’re still getting a pet. You’ll be providing them with a happy life, and that’s what matters.