Adopting a dog from an animal shelter is very rewarding for the new owner, as more and more dogs are put to sleep if they are unable to find a home after a certain length of time.
You are rewarded in the way that you have saved a dogs life, and additionally rewarded the animal shelter by helping them feed and look after the other dogs, and also that they have managed to save a dogs life and find it a new loving home.
When you purchase one from a shelter, it should have had the necessary injections, be checked for diseases and parasites and the new owner should be informed of the dog's temperament and past history.
This should come as standard.
The dogs at a shelter are not always strays and abandoned dogs, but quite a high percentage are handed in by the dog's owners, for many reasons.
This is beneficial for the new dog's owner as they have more information about its history, whereas abandoned or strays have no history.
New owners should be informed of the dog's behavior with children, if it is a noisy dog, and also whether or not the dog needs training, and if so pointed in the right direction for a dog training school.
Animal shelters provide a valuable service to the community by helping to keep the streets free of abandoned pets, and are mainly funded by the public, but the majority is voluntary.
Adopting a dog, not only saves the life of one dog, but also allows space for another off the streets, potentially saving another dog's life in the future.