The number of euthanized animals could be reduced dramatically if more people adopted pets instead of buying them. When you adopt, you save a loving animal by making them part of your family and open up shelter space for another animal who might desperately need it.

Are you planning to give a dog as a gift? While pets offer unconditional love and irreplaceable devotion, you should think long and hard before presenting a pet as a surprise present. Generally, most animal experts and shelters advise against adopting a dog to give as a (surprise) gift to someone else.

Registration is not always mandatory. But even if it isn’t, you can prove ownership by properly registering your pet with local authorities. Veterinary records. Keep your pet’s veterinary and vaccination records up to date and make sure you keep updated copies at the ready.

While adoption might give you the peace of mind, and of course, give the pet a second chance, if you are not ready to take up the challenge a shelter dog may bring with him or her, chances are that sooner or later the kindness will fade away, making the poor creature homeless again.

Here are some of the warning signs to be aware of when going to buy a puppy from a breeder.

1. Not letting you see the parents.
2. Regularly advertising litters online.
3. Poor living conditions.
4. Puppies and parents in bad health.
5. Puppies leaving the mother too early before 8 weeks.
6. Selling puppies in large numbers.

Inbreeding causes painful and life-threatening genetic defects in “purebred” dogs and cats, including crippling hip dysplasia, blindness, deafness, heart defects, skin problems, and epilepsy. Distorting animals for specific physical features also causes severe health problems.