Thinking of getting or giving a pet for the holidays?

Question

Do you know anyone whose last-minute gift ideas include a dog or cat? Here at the ASPCA, we’d like to remind animal lovers how to make wise choices when considering adding a furry member to the household—particularly during the holiday season.

Many families purchase puppies from pet stores, the newspaper, or even online, but the ASPCA cautions that the puppies you see in pet shops most likely came from a puppy mill—large-scale, inhumane, commercial breeding operations known for housing dogs in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions. To learn more about what goes on at puppy mills, and what you can do to fight them, please visit ASPCA.org.

For those who want to give a pet as a gift, the ASPCA, along with many animal shelters around the country, promotes gift certificates that allow recipients to choose the pet of their choice. Our ASPCA Adoption Center in New York City offers a “Gift-A-Pet” certificate whereby the giver pays the adoption fee of a cat or kitten for a loved one, and the recipient then selects the furry friend best suited to her family.

“Pets can be our most loyal companions, providing us with unconditional love,” says ASPCA President & CEO Ed Sayres. “At the ASPCA, we understand this bond and hope that potential pet parents consider adoption their best option. Local animal shelters offer many choices, whether your preference is dog or cat, small or large, purebred or lovable mutt. If you’re ready to make the commitment, then adopting an animal in need, and receiving that animal’s unconditional love, is truly a gift for any holiday."

You can also wrap up a pet toy or pet-related items, such as pet care books and kits or gift certificates as a post-holiday adoption promise. The expectation of a new pet’s arrival can be fun, especially for children, since the whole family will have the time to properly plan and choose the right companion animal. Thanks for reading—and please forward this information to anyone you know who may be considering giving a pet as a present.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Amen!

Here is a blurb I wrote for a local breed club:

Dogs Are for Life, Not for Christmas

The fantasy of surprising your loved ones with an adorable puppy under the tree on Christmas Morning may seem like the perfect gift…but is it really?  Humane Societies, shelter workers, the AKC, reputable breeders and rescue groups across the country resoundingly say NO!

Animals should never be given as gifts at any time of the year and the holidays are, in fact, the worst time to bring a dog of any age into your home and your life.  New puppies require extra attention and a stable environment that Christmas usually does not permit.  Caring for the puppy’s round-the-clock feeding and housetraining needs as well as finding time to comfort and reassure an insecure pup amidst the holiday chaos can be a difficult task. 

Puppies given as gifts are frequently impulse purchases from pet stores or “Breed for Greed” commercial puppy sources.  Reputable breeders rarely sell puppies during the Christmas season.  A dog is not a toy.  The result of making the wrong choice when selecting a living animal as a gift can be tragic.  Ask any shelter worker or rescue volunteer about the influx of ill, untrained and unwanted puppies and dogs after the holiday season.

No matter how much you think your loved one would enjoy this “surprise,” it is not wise to make this decision for another person.  Getting a pet is a lifelong commitment.  This is a major decision requiring personal and financial responsibility.  It also is a decision which the WHOLE family must make.

We STRONGLY RECOMMEND you place a “Puppy Gift Package” instead of a live pup under the Christmas tree.  This gift package can be a puppy collar and leash, a plush toy of a puppy, or a cute puppy picture all wrapped in Christmas paper.  

Then, after the holidays are over and life has returned to normal, together you and your family can thoughtfully begin the process of selecting the right dog for you and giving your pup the right start.

PattyDukes · Answer

I believe that giving a pet for the holidays is ok, as long as the other party is expecting it.
So many animals are taken to shelters or dropped off on the side of a road somewhere once they grow out of puppy or kitten stage.
Don't surprise someone with a dog or cat, unless you know they are prepared for the 15-20 years of responsibility.  Its so sad that people dont understand how much responsibility a pet is and they think they can throw it out like last weeks garbage as soon as they loose interest.  Its disgusting.

Thanks for posting this! :)

Vet tech--- Very well said! :)

Ista · Answer

Personally, I'd rather pick out my own pet, to be sure his/her personality is a match to my own. I did get a pekingnese for my birthday back when I was a kid, but I'd seen him 3 months earlier, and fortunately he was still there at 9 months old, I had already picked him out, and him me! It was a great match. But a pup I'd never met? No. Not such a good idea.

kendra · Answer

Christmas gifts,YES!! She even has a stocking all to herself. Santa fills it with goodies on Christmas Eve!!! When she was younger,she had wrapped presents under the tree. She never really cared about these so now she has a stocking only! I love my pound puppy of 4 years!!!

yeehaneeha · Answer

Agreed! My senior project is on rescue dogs :)

weedie · Answer

you can put that there is a pet for sale in the paper. or you can ever put up flayers.be creative 


good luck!

Inseynium · Answer

I second that.

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Thinking of getting or giving a pet for the holidays?

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