Because you shouldn’t get a pet on a whim, the way you would a purse, a dress or a pair of shoes.

Because somewhere out there, there is a shelter dog patiently waiting for you to take her/him home.

And because if you’re anything like me, you love the poem and the art piece below and don’t want to be the kind of person who supports puppy mills.

Street art photo (13th St & 3rd Ave, NYC). Photo by Malin.

Malin Bergman is an ashtanga yogi, indie film and music aficionado, often-cheating vegan and failed ballerina, who sleeps like a starfish and refuses to accept that Pluto is no longer a planet. She loves green figs, anything crochet, horses, Coney Island, second-hand book stores and the guy who plays piano in Washington Square Park. She seldom leaves her house without giant shades, a mug of black coffee and her Chinese Crested darling dog, Angel.

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