Petco is one of the biggest pet store chains, focusing on supplies for pets, as well as a couple of animals, so you might think of choosing it for a dog or puppy.
If so, read this article before going down to one of these stores, so you can learn everything you need to know about getting these kinds of pets from Petco!
Does Petco Sell Dogs and Puppies In 2024?
Unfortunately, Petco does not sell dogs and puppies in 2024. Petco has always stayed away from directly selling dogs and puppies, but it does allow customers to adopt. Additionally, Petco can connect you to adoption shelters, and also has drives and other events for this.
Read on to learn everything you need to know about getting dogs and puppies from Petco, including why the company doesn’t sell them, where to adopt, how much they cost, and more!
How Do You Adopt a Puppy or Dog From Petco?
If you’re looking to get a dog from Petco, you can look up your local store’s schedule to see if it has an adoption event coming up.
These are the times where the shelters bring out most of or all the animals they have, meaning you get a wider selection to choose from.
On most other days, Petco will usually only have some small dogs in the store that you can walk in and adopt.
You can use Petco’s online store and pet finder to search for the options you’d like in your area.
Enter your zip code and the features of the dog you want (color, age, size, breed, etc.) to get started.
Why Doesn’t Petco Sell Dogs Directly?
Petco decided to promote adoption of dogs, as opposed to sales, because the latter means it would have to deal with breeders and puppy mills.
These sources have a negative reputation for having the animals in bad conditions, because they’re driven by producing as many of them for sale as fast as they can.
Working with them would be a PR disaster for Petco, so the company instead decided to focus on adoptions and rehousing strays.
When you go to get a dog from Petco, the process is similar to what you would expect when buying one, but only the source is different.
Does Petco Buy From Puppy Mills?
Petco does not buy from puppy mills, because it is focused on adoptions.
Puppy mills have become known for having the animals in terrible conditions, so Petco has opted to stay away from them in favor of working with animal shelters.
To make sure that the company doesn’t have to go back on this decision, it has many different programs in place.
Petco’s organization, named Petco Love (formerly the Petco Foundation) has partnered with several shelters to provide its customers with easy access to dogs for adoption.
Petco donates to these organizations, and also has a section on its site for anyone to contribute to them.
Some of this money goes to pet health care to ensure that animals don’t have to be euthanized for preventable reasons, and that they can go on to be adopted later.
Did Petco Ever Sell Dogs?
Petco has never sold dogs. Ever since it was founded, the company has stayed away from selling dogs directly, instead favoring adoption from the shelters in the areas around its stores.
What Is the Price of a Dog at Petco?
According to Petco’s website, it will cost you between $50 and $500 to get a dog from the company.
This is through adoption, but it isn’t free, so you should expect to pay an amount that goes up, depending on what you get.
Petco works with animal shelters, and charges different adoption fees, so the price is not standard across store locations.
If you’re adopting a dog in a city where the cost of living is high, the cost will obviously be higher than a smaller, less expensive city.
These fees could go up if you get additional options such as microchipping, spaying, or neutering, as well as other accessories, such as an ID tag or a collar.
If you adopt a less common breed of dog, you should expect to pay more, and the price also goes up the younger the animal is.
Is Petco or PetSmart Better for Dogs?
Neither Petco nor PetSmart sells dogs, but both focus on adoption, so you’re likely to get the same selection overall from either one.
Instead, both of these stores sell supplies for dogs such as accessories like leashes and toys, and dog food, so this is what’s compared when people ask this question.
In this regard, Petco has more options available as far as dog supplies, like food and accessories, because it stocks third party brands.
PetSmart automatically has less options in comparison, because the company is mainly focused on selling its own brands at store locations.
This also means that the prices for the items at PetSmart are lower than those at Petco, even if it’s only by a small margin.
While both of them provide dog training services, Petco is the only one that has online training courses.
This means that, despite PetSmart having a greater presence by store numbers, Petco is available to more people in areas with neither, as long as there’s an internet connection.
To know more, you can also read our posts on whether or not Petco sells cats & kittens, Petco dog food return policy, and when does Petco restock.
Conclusion
Petco doesn’t sell dogs, instead allowing its customers to adopt from one of several animal shelters it’s partnered with.
Petco has never sold dogs since it began operations, because working with puppy mills and breeders was considered a bad business practice.
A dog from Petco will cost from $50 to $500 and, at minimum, you’ll be paying the standard adoption fee.
You should expect to pay more if you get options like microchipping, spaying or neutering, ID tags, and collars. Younger dogs will also cost more than older ones.
