Problem:
Adopt, Don't Shop
The decision to acquire a new four-legged member of your household can be plagued with unknowns: Should we get a canine or a feline? Do we need to consider hypoallergenic breeds? Do we prefer a young puppy or an older, more mature dog? Doesn't everyone want to do what's best for their family? As a former volunteer at an animal shelter, I can tell you that the most pressing concern that should be at the top of every would-be animal owner's mind, however, is whether to adopt or purchase a pet.
Each year, approximately 6.5 million animals cross the undesirable threshold into our nation's animal shelters where those pets are then processed as intakes, vetted, and typically kenneled in small spaces. There, those innocent cats, dogs, rabbits, and all manner of animals must wait for days, weeks, months, and sometimes years for loving families to adopt them and provide them with the security, love, and companionship they deserve. Animals that are labeled "sick" or "aggressive" will often be euthanized on the spot. Other healthy, loving animals will never find loving homes because there are simply too many dogs and cats available and not enough households to absorb them all. By simply choosing to adopt, you can literally save a life.
In sharp contrast, purchasing a new critter from a pet store can, unintentionally or otherwise, support irresponsible breeding practices. Animals in factory-style breeding facilities are often housed in cramped, inhumane quarters, the health of the animals completely disregarded. Parent animals are often discarded or abandoned when they are no longer able to breed. I have personally seen what happens when the parent animals are no longer needed by breeders. Owners of breeding facilities may care strictly about profits and blatantly disregard the welfare of the animals under their care.
Should you decide to adopt versus purchase your new pet, you will undoubtedly reap the intrinsic rewards of providing a shelter animal with a comfortable, loving home, and you will also benefit from another source: your wallet. The up-front costs of purchasing a pet, especially a purebred mammal, can be exorbitant. You can plan to spend perhaps $1,000 or more on just the purchase and then several hundreds more on vaccinations, spaying/neutering services, microchip tagging, and a health checkup. Most shelters adopt out their pets with all of these essentials already completed, and typically you will pay a few hundred dollars or less for everything.
So, the next time you consider adding a furry companion or even a reptilian creature to your family, remember to visit your local shelter instead of a pet store because you surely won't regret it.
Which sentence from paragraph 1 illustrates the rhetorical device identified in Question 3? Need Assignment Help?
Responses:
"Do we need to consider hypoallergenic breeds?"
"Do we need to consider hypoallergenic breeds?"
"Doesn't everyone want to do what's best for their family?"
"Doesn't everyone want to do what's best for their family?"
"Do we prefer a young puppy or an older, more mature dog?"
"Do we prefer a young puppy or an older, more mature dog?"
"Should we get a canine or a feline?"