Five years ago, a dog entered my families life, rescued from a pound. The rescuers got in trouble for taking him because they didn't have any room but, he was an hour away from being put down, never knowing a loving home. Which is why he ended up at our house.

They needed someone to foster him until he found his forever home, and we had an empty house that was, inconveniently, dog-less. We've always been a family that has had pets. We love our little furballs, and as I type this, I have a purring cat laying across my stomach. It's comforting and relaxing.

We had gotten our previous dog from a breeder because we wanted a puppy (I wanted a puppy.) Brandy came out of a home that had two adult dogs and a litter of puppies. That was before my mother began fostering dogs that needed love and care. Brandy was a good dog. She was cute and loved to play, we took her camping and took silly pictures with her. She cuddled up to us at night and made us laugh.

However, as good of a dog as she was, Dallas might be better.

Dallas is a big, black dog who thinks he can fit on your lap. He's got those big puppy dog eyes that make it impossible to stay mad at him. He craves love and attention, and he gets it. He's incredibly spoiled and happy and runs around like the doofus he is.

Which is why it pains me so much to think about him sitting alone in a cell, wagging his tail as people approach and then hang his head as they walk away. Unaware that the people looking down at him and talking are discussing how he's reached his grace period, and they need the room for incoming animals.

He got lucky, but many dogs and cats everywhere else didn't. Although more and more no kill shelters are popping up, the reality is that there are simply too many dogs and cats for them to take in. They do not have enough room.

It's wonderful when a family decides to get a puppy. It's exciting because all the puppies are too adorable for words. I get it. I understand. You want a puppy so you can have the dog for a long time. Your kids want a puppy because it's a puppy.

But I'm begging you, please consider a rescue animal or a shelter animal.

The sad reality is that these dogs and cats need homes because they've been abused, abandoned, and betrayed. They need homes just as much as puppies do.

Many puppies you see in a pet store also come from puppy mills. Although these animals need homes as well, there's a vicious cycle that continues because people want to get a puppy from a store. Shelter and rescue dogs have a bad reputation for being dirty or having something wrong with them. (Even if this were the case they still need loving homes!)

So a family goes to buy a puppy from a pet store. They go home happy with a brand new doggie to love. That's fantastic, but the person that sold them the puppy pockets the money and goes home.

The next day, they go to a place where dogs are packed into cages. Older dogs are chosen to breed, and that's all they do. They breed until they no longer can and are killed, or until they die themselves. The puppies are shoved into a cage until they're ready to be sold. When they are, they're scrubbed clean and fitted with a collar.

Meanwhile, the family who got this cute puppy decides they don't like the dog anymore because it grew up. They take the dog to an already crowded shelter where the dog sits in another cage until it's either adopted or, sadly, killed.

It's awful. And a bleeding heart like mine can't stand the thought of dogs living in shelters for their entire lives.

Once a shelter or rescue dog is adopted, they're given a second chance. The way the rescue dogs that have come through my home have looked at me melts my heart. These dogs have seen horrors that I couldn't imagine. They look at me with gratitude, like they know I'm helping them. These dogs know they've been given a second chance, and because of that, they'll love you and your family unconditionally.

When you adopt a shelter dog, you're adopting a dog that was yelled at for the first leg of its life, so when you praise it and love it, it's tail will wag harder.

You're adopting a dog that was dropped off on the side of the road and watched as its family drove away. So when you take it on a road trip and bring it home with you, it'll be happier than you could ever imagine.

You're adopting a dog that was chained up outside in the hot sun and the cold snow. So when you let it curl up with you in bed, it'll fall asleep peacefully, feeling loved.

When you adopt a rescue dog, you're freeing up space in the shelter, and putting a puppy mill out of business. In a perfect world, every dog and cat has a home, and the shelters remain empty. Puppies are born and raised in homes, not in cages. Eventually, the need for pet shops will diminish.

Of course, the world isn't perfect, and this will never happen. But even if you can only save one dog in the world, you're saving the world for that one dog.

Always consider rescue animals. Always.