by Kim Remesch

Created on: March 18, 2009   Last Updated: May 10, 2010

I've made some forever friends-friends with cold, wet noses-at the Humane Society and local animal shelters. You can, too.

Just as you should choose your human friends with care, so should you choose your four-legged friends. If you do, you give an unwanted pet a new start and you make a dent in the seemingly endless flow of homeless animals in the United States.

When you put your name on a list to get the next puppy produced by some champion bloodline animal, you don't get much of a choice in regard to personality. It's very clinical, the animal equivalent of getting a nameless, faceless sperm donor. When you go to a shelter, you get the chance to add a family member who will meld with your family.

Every animal I've ended up with has in some way or another chosen me and my family. That sounds simplistic, but it's not. I have a list of things I look for when adopting a pet. It seems that the pet has always come into my life first. Maybe they make lists, too.

Shelters make sure there's a good fit. If an animal needs a fenced-in yard, that's what they demand. If the animal doesn't play well with other pets, the shelter staff won't place the pet in a home with extra kitties and dogs.

Health-wise, the shelter pet has gotten the once over. You'll get a paper listing the basics: shots, worming, etc. A vet comes in and does a sort of triage with the animals. If they've lived in bad conditions, the staff works on acclimating them into society. If they have health issues, the staff takes care of it, long before they're offered for adoption.

Most importantly, a shelter makes absolutely sure that the pet behaves properly. They do tests to be sure that the animal isn't aggressive. In short, they make sure you'll end up with a pet fit for your family.

As I'm typing this, my last shelter adoption, Arlo, a basset mix, is nudging my arm, trying to stop me from typing. It's a little game we play. He likes it more than I do. Arlo chose me. I wandered (virtually) the sites of the various shelters for a full year before Arlo found me. There were numerous dogs I could have chosen, and I would have been happy with them, but I held out. I knew that one shelter pet would find me. The one who needed me, the one I needed.

Shelter animals come into our lives at the precise time we need them to be there. Kismit. And we come into their lives the same way.

That's the real benefit. Shelter pets love us unconditionally at a time when we really need it and vice versa.

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