For the past couple of years, when we have spoken to you on this page about the importance of adopting shelter animals to save their lives and enhance your own, it’s been in the context of how many animals die each year, pulling on readers’ heart-strings to compel them to prevent that horrible loss, one new pet owner at a time. This time, we’d like to put the whole idea of shelter pet adoption in a more positive light.

Case in point: According to the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), the number of feline and canine souls who are lucky enough to be taken into a permanent home from a shelter each year in the U.S. is roughly 3.2 million all told. Now think about how many animals that really is. For example, if you walked one mile for each of those adopted animals, the accumulated distance would be enough to circle the earth 128 times. Take a minute to bask in that warm light.