Moggie Madness

Everyone who knows me well knows that I am heavily against buying pets as Christmas gifts for other people. Regardless of whether you know the person would like one or not, it just isn’t a good idea!

Mojo was given to me as a Christmas present and I had absolutely no idea he was coming. I had no litter or tray, no food or bowls to put it in and no bedding for the little kitty to go to sleep in at night. And more to the point, I was still living at home and had no idea what my mum would think about it at all! She was pretty mad at first but we are not the kind of people who would turn an animal away. After all, one of our previous dearly loved cats, Puss, also dropped in on our doorstep one day. So out we ran to the pet store, getting everything we needed. Mojo was one of the lucky ones - we were prepared to accept him into our lives and he did not end up in the shelter that year, unlike countless other pets who are bought without consideration every year as Christmas gifts. He was a poorly socialised kitten and way too young to have been taken away from his mother. But with lots of effort, perserverance and forgiveness for his quirks, he has blended nicely into our household - although he remains extremely moody and unable to play without his claws out.

Paris, one of our peachfaces, was another animal that was purchased as a Christmas gift for a nephew. She was boomeranged back to the gift giver, who then passed her and a new cage mate onto us. When she came to us, she was very high strung and would attack our hands if we put them in the cage to change her water or feed. She has since settled down and realised that we are not going to hurt her. She just wasn’t a good choice for a household full of young children whose curiosity often leads them to be far too rough with animals. Not to mention, she was considered to be too noisy as well. Anyone who has owned a couple can tell you they are pretty noisy birds!

I’m not saying that all children lack the capacity to adequately care for a pet, nor am I saying that everyone you give a pet to at Christmas will not want it. But I do believe that if an individual wants a pet, they will seek one out themselves and find one that suits them and their lifestyle. What you consider to be a perfect pet for them may not be what they want. Or they may wish to have a pet but be unprepared for the financial burden of its upkeep. It doesn’t matter what kind of domestic pet you get, they are going to need some level of maintenance - whether it be veterinary care, feeding or cleaning of enclosures. Also, Christmas time is often a time where you feel sorry for those less fortunate and like to do something to help. Pity purchases from pet stores do nothing to reduce the strain on animal welfare societies at Christmas time - yes the animal may end up at a shelter if it is not purchased. But if you purchase it without consideration of its breed, temperament and needs, it could end up at a shelter anyway.

So if you or someone you know would like a pet for Christmas, please give it a lot of thought before you commit to a purchase. If you are considering buying a pet for a friend or loved one, please talk to them about it first.

Remember - a pet is a friend for life, not just the holidays.

Tags: animal welfare

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 13th, 2007 at 11:46 am and is filed under Cats, Dogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.