Adopting a pet from a shelter or rescue is a win-win, for both owner and animal. Here are just a few of the benefits:

• Put Puppy Mills Out Of Business: When you adopt a shleter pet you're saving a life. You're also helping to put puppy mills out of business. By adopting from a shelter or rescue group and not from a puppy mill or from someone else who is irresponsibly breeding their animals, you are saying that you do not want to support irresponsible breeding.
• Discover Happy, Healthy, Housetrained Pets: Animal shelters and rescue groups are brimming with happy, healthy pets just waiting to unleash unconditional love on their new families. A majority of animals in shelters are there becuase of human problems like divorce, lack of pet accessible housing or financial troubles, not because they did anything wrong. Many of these animals, especially older ones, have already been housetrained and socialized.
• Save Money: When you adopt a pet, the cost of spay/neuter and initial vaccinations is included in the adoption fee, which can save you some of the up front costs of adding a new member to your family. 
• Make Room for More Pets in the Shelter: By adopting a shelter pet, you’re making space for another animal who might desperately need it. And not only are you giving more animals a second chance, but the cost of your adoption goes directly towards helping those shelters better care for the animals they take in.
• Find Your Perfect Match: With so many animals to choose from, your perfect match is waiting for you! When you adopt an adult animal from a shelter you will know what his temperament is, how big he will get and what he will always look like. You can meet him and play with him before you adopt him to ensure a PERFECT match. If you have the time to devote to training, there are also plenty of puppies and kittens to be found at your local shelter.

There’s no better place for Jacksonville citizens to adopt a pet than ACPS. With a mission to save the lives of all adoptable animals in the community, “Never Stray from Hope” is the message ACPS seeks to convey each day as it serves citizens with animal control, veterinary services, pet adoptions and more. ACPS receives approximately 12,000 animals on average per year. You can stop by the ACPS shelter (2020 Forest St. - 32204) Tuesdays – Saturdays, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Available animals can also be viewed online at http://www.coj.net/pets.