Dog adoption is a popular method of dealing with dogs that are abandoned by their owners, ending up in animal shelters or dog pounds or on the street, and often succumbing to hunger, weather, traffic, or common and treatable health problems. An alternative method is putting them down, a form of animal euthanasia.
The central issue facing dog adoption is whether a new owner can provide a safe, secure permanent home for dogs, with many shelters and pounds refusing to supply animals to people whom they judge cannot supply the animal with a suitable home.
Many shelter dogs were originally purchased at a pet store and abandoned when their owners found themselves unable or unwilling to keep or take proper care of them.
