Free to good home! How many times do we see or hear that phrase in newspapers, website mailing lists, notices on bulletin boards, people sitting on the side of the road with puppies or kittens in a cardboard box and by word of mouth?

As a prospective owner of a free dog, puppy or kitten, perhaps you are not aware that most of these puppies and kittens have had little or NO vet care including worming and those oh so important puppy shots.

The owners cared so much about these animals that they are giving them away free on the side of the road or to any Tom, Dick or Harry who calls saying they will take the dog. That means that the puppies and kittens could be used for breeding, as dog fighting bait, bait for training hunting and guard dogs, sold to be research lab animals, be fed to exotic pets, or used for what some would call religious purposes in animal sacrifice.

Does that really sound like the kind of owner who will give the animal good vet care? IF you are lucky they will say they gave them shots from the feed store. Vaccines are no good, if they not kept at the correct temperature. Most people do not realize this and do not keep the shots at the right temperature so they do the puppy or kitten no good when given. So your puppy who has had his shots given by someone who doesn't know what they are doing is still suseptable to parvo, kennel cough, leptospirosis, distemper, adenovirus, parainfluenza and rabies. Any of these diseases will cost you hundreds of dollars in vet care to treat should your puppy be exposed and contract the disease. Plus your puppy will have to suffer and may not survive the ordeal!

So now you have your free puppy and need to take it to the vet. If it is a young puppy it will need vetting which includes a series of puppy shots over several weeks, worming, parasite prevention for fleas and ticks, heartworm prevention and spay/neuter. Check with your vet as prices vary depending on location. All this adds up to several hundred dollars. So if you are going to be a responsible owner, when you count up the costs to vet the dog and ensure it has a healthy future, you see that a free dog is not actually free.

Before you pick up a free dog or go buy a puppy, please consider this... a rescue dog from a reputable rescue organization, will be spay/neutered, up to date on DA2LPP, Rabies, Bordatella (Kennel Cough), wormed, and usually have been started on his flea prevention and heartworm prevention. IF they had heartworms or other health issues, they have usually been treated for that as well. All this for an adoption fee of around $300 which is what it would cost you to buy a puppy that has not had all of this vetting done, or vet a free puppy that has not had all this vetting done.

By adopting a rescue you are saving a life by helping a dog that needs a home as well as supporting the rescue so they can rescue another dog from a kill shelter that needs their help. When you take a free dog you are encouraging that owner to continue to allow their dog to indescriminately breed or if you buy a puppy, you are putting money in a breeders pocket.

Please support your rescues and local animal shelters as there are many dogs that need good homes that will be put to sleep without people stepping up and adopting them. Thank you.