Every year, many organizations publish the message about not giving pets as gifts. Just run a quick Google News Search and you will find thousands of posts about it. I try to ensure I have a post about it. This message is posted time and time again but the unfortunate reality is that the people who give pets as presents aren't necessarily the ones reading it. I have heard of shelters and rescues that make people wait until after Christmas to bring their new pet home however some places just don't have the resources available to do this.
I keep hoping that maybe this year, it will be different. There will be less pets given to those who don't want them. The optimist in me says that this year, those who buy or adopt pets at Christmas time will actually commit and want them for the long run. The pessimist in me says that the shelters will fill up and the streets will be full of homeless animals come January 1st.
So how do we fix it? What can we do?? I have a few ideas that you could do in your own local community ...
- Contact the local newspaper and see if they will write an article about this.
- Encourage people to donate to their local animal shelter and instead of buying a pet for that person, why not sponsor a shelter animal?
- Print up posters to put up in your area to show people the alternatives (like sponsoring a shelter pet)
- Donate a few bags of food / litter to your local shelter in the name of someone
What else could you do?
5 comments:
Oh! I love the idea of writing to the local newspaper. I'm right on that!
Believe it or not one of our local shelters actually advertises adopting an animal to give as a gift. I did write and call them but recieved no replay :(
Our local news usually does a story on it! I suspect maybe they have an IN with one of the Rescues.
It must be rather frightening for a little puppy to join a foreign household on a holiday with all of the commotion!!
All great suggestions.
Best of luck to them all.
They're going to need it.
My own personal contribution is to NOT get angry with people giving their pets away on kijiji.
The scrawny feral cat has been gaining weight! YAY!
Hope your physio is helping!
Every year it seems like everyone does their best to get the message across but let's face it, many people just aren't going to listen.
If someone is bent on getting a pet for the holidays I'd rather them at least adopt from a shelter or rescue than make a purchase from a store or the side of a highway. Most shelters and rescues have approval processes that at the very least will confirm the person has truly thought about the decision instead of just buying a dog on a whim for their child.
But I agree, the holiday season is not the best time for a new animal in a new house.
A great, timely post. The whole point of holiday gifts is that they're meant to be a surprise; the recipient is, by definition, underprepared, and will not be approaching the situation in a calm and careful frame of mind. The prerequisites will almost certainly not be in place; the house won't be puppy-proofed, there may not even be dog food or dog beds at hand. That's the exact opposite of the way a pet should ideally be introduced to a home. I this post means even one less Christmas puppy ending up at the shelter, then you've done your job.
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