“I Haven’t Felt This Happy In A Long While”: 50 People Show Their Adorable Adopted Critters

Adopting a pet entails so many benefits for both of the involved parties. Welcoming a critter—be it a dog, a cat, a parrot, or any other, for that matter—into their home can improve the owner’s mental and even physical well-being; while for the critter itself, it means finally being cared for and loved.

“Pets are great nonjudgmental companions for both adults and children. It’s also been shown that having a pet reduces stress and reduces risk from heart disease, obesity, asthma, and other health threats,” Fran Marino Endowed Distinguished Professor of Shelter Medicine Education Julie Levy told Bored Panda in a recent interview.

It’s clear that no matter how hardworking and loving shelter employees are, such a habitat can’t even come close to the environment in a loving home. “No matter how hard shelter workers try to make the pets comfortable, it’s still an institutional setting that can lead to stress behaviors and illnesses,” Professor Levy said. “That’s why we work so hard to place them in new homes as quickly as possible. That can be a foster home or a forever home.”

Animal welfare policies and animal sheltering expert Laura Reese seconded the idea that staying in a shelter is far from the best scenario for any animal. “Animal shelters are very difficult places for pets—lots of noise and stress, limited exercise and interactions with humans and other animals.

“Getting into a home makes a world of difference for their emotional and physical well-being. Being placed in a foster home until adoption helps them a lot, but the goal is to have them adopted.”

Both of the experts agree that a pet’s personality tends to change after transitioning into a loving home. “There is a lot of change in behavior and it's difficult to tell in a shelter what a pet's behavior will be like,” Laura Reese pointed out.

She explained that shelter behavior tests are not particularly valid indicators of a pet’s behavior once they get into a home and can relax, as there is always an adjustment period in the new dwelling.

“My dog was very fearful of humans when I adopted her seven years ago. She is still improving even after all this time,” Prof. Reese shared. “Dog personalities are pretty malleable, open to changes in training and treatment. Cats are a bit less so but I regularly foster them, and though they usually come into my house hissing and hiding, working with them slowly and gaining trust allows them to come out of their shells. This will happen in an adoptive home as well.”