For some people, spending hundreds of dollars at the pet store or breeder to get a new addition to the family is not an option.
Still, the American Humane Association reports that each year, nearly half of the eight million stray and unwanted pets taken in by shelters have to be euthanized because people just aren't adopting.
Shelters like the Alachua County Animal Services offer dozens of adoptable animals that have been treated, spayed or neutered and vaccinated.
WUFT-FM's Elle Newbold spoke with Alachua County Animal Services Public Education Coordinator Hilary Hynes about one pet recently relinquished to the shelter that is beginning the long road to finding a home.
WUFT-FM's Kelsey Kern also reports on the benefits of adopting a pet from a shelter like the humane society.