Christmas Pets, To Give Or Not To Give

Christmas is just around the corner, some of us are caught up on our holiday shopping, many are not. One thing is certain, there will be pets given as gifts for Christmas. Some will have happy homes. Sadly though, many will find their way to animal shelters.

Unfortunately it seems many pets that are gifted during the holidays, are done with a light heart. This is unfortunate because pets can require a great deal of care, attention and love. It's important to remember that when you are giving a pets to a child, especially to someone else's child, that much of the responsibility can become the parent's.

Many shelters have very thorough interview processes involved with pet adoptions. This helps to prevent animals from being returned to the shelter, unwanted. Many shelters also have a 'no surprises' policy, to protect pets from becoming unappreciated presents.

There are many points to consider when pondering pet adoption, the size of the animal for one, also the size of your home is very important. Large dogs or birds probably aren't a good idea if there are small children around; as a dog can easily knock a child over and a bird may bite their fingers.

""If you have a small apartment, it would not be too wise to adopt a dog like a Siberian Husky," commented Greg Van Wassenhove, director of agriculture and environmental management for Santa Clara County. "It's our goal to make sure that we don't have a high return rate of animals once they're adopted out. In fact, we have a very low return rate because we do take the potential owners through an interview process before they take possession of their new pet."