Giving Pets as a Gift – the Right Way

Thinking of surprising someone with a pet this Christmas?  There’s a right way and a wrong way to gift an animal.  If you know someone who seems to really like animals but doesn’t have one, you might want to ask them why.  They may be afraid of the expense – the initial price of getting the pet is the least of the costs involved in a lifetime of owning a pet.  There is food, toys and other supplies, veterinary costs (which can quickly add up if the pet gets sick or injured), grooming, training – you get the idea.  Pets are the gift that end up costing! You have to respect that someone has figured out that they can’t afford another mouth to feed and not put that burden on them (unless you’re going to be a true fairy godmother and offer to pay for all the pet expenses for life.)

Several years ago a new acquaintance surprised me with a kitten.  She knew I worked at an animal shelter and was always fostering kittens, so she figured I loved them, and she was sucked in by a window display of adorable kittens in a retail chain pet store in a mall.  Yikes!  Clearly I had access to all the kittens I needed and could pick and choose one to keep if I had wanted.  And retail chain stores that sell kitten/puppy mill animals are something that I would give anything to shut down.  If you don’t know about the horrors of puppy/kitten mills please take a minute to educate yourself (that’s another whole column!) by going to www.stoppuppymill.org.  She put me in a real ethical dilemma – and that’s not fair.

So step one before getting someone else a pet is to ask the simple question “I can tell you really love (dogs/cats/rabbits).  Why don’t you have one?” and really listen to the answer.  Some people might be hesitant to disclose their precarious financial situation so they might give an evasive answer.  If they say anything other than “I would love one, I just haven’t taken the time to look for one yet,” don’t get them a pet!  If they do sound seriously interested then realize that getting a pet that works for a person is a very individual thing.  That person might have their heart set on a particular breed or color or type of animal, and that’s hard to pick out for someone else.  What you can do instead of buying/adopting a pet as a surprise is buy something the pet would need (a litterbox or bed or chew toy) and wrap that up with a certificate that says “my gift is a pet of your choice at a local shelter” and then bring them to the shelter so they can choose the animal they fall in love with!

Coincidentally we have certificates that say just that available at the RP shelter.  You don’t have to prepay the adoption fee, just in case they don’t find exactly what they want at our shelter.  Then you are free to go to another to continue the search.  The best part of doing it this way is just in case the reaction is not what you expect and they say “What?!  A living being?!  I don’t want that responsibility/expense/commitment right now,” at least you haven’t actually brought an animal into that situation and you can go get them a stuffed animal instead!

We think we know our friends pretty well but every so often they can surprise you.  Don’t surprise them with an unplanned pet.  It’s not fair to either of them!