There are many ways you can obtain a pet. The choices will depend on personal circumstances: puppies take more time than adult pets and some owners prefer to re-home an adult dog rather than train a puppy.

Once you have done some research on which type of pet is suitable for you then you need to decide where you are going to find your pet.

Local newspaper. You may be able to find a pet from a private breeder who advertises in the local paper. This approach may work for the more common breeds of dogs and cats.

By recommendation. A friend or pet owner may be able to refer you to a specific breeder who may be able to supply you with a pet either direct or via a network of breeders.

Web link to the breed societies. Many breeders register their litters direct with their own breed society and you may be able to source a new puppy via this link.

Web link to Rescue societies for particular breeds. For most of the common breeds there are rescue societies which are responsible for re-homing dogs from that particular breed.

Local rescue centre. This is often an excellent method of sourcing a healthy new pet. The pets are usually health checked, vaccinated and micro-chipped prior to sale. See links page for more information on the local societies in Leicester.

Pet shop. This is the common route for many of the small children's pets with specialist pet shops for reptiles.

Friends or family. But take care you don't just take on that new puppy from your friend to help them out when you really wanted a cat!