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The HSUS notes that every year, within a few months of the winter holidays, shelters start seeing the results of impulse buys showing up at their doors. This surge of additional animals makes a shelter’s task of finding homes for dogs that much more difficult.
According to expert Stephanie Shain, Director of Outreach for Companion Animals at The
HSUS, “Pet stores – even virtual ones on the internet -- cater to holiday impulse purchases, making buying a dog as easy as buying a toaster. Most of the puppies come from puppy mills, where they are generally kept in overcrowded cages with poor quality food, a lack of socialization, minimal medical care, and too many suffer from an array of immediate veterinary problems and long-term genetic problems. Dogs kept in puppy mills are bred over and over for years without human companionship and with little hope of ever joining a family. After they're no longer profitable – no longer able to produce large litters of puppies -- these dogs are killed or sold off at auction.”
Second, The HSUS is warning consumers not to give a live animal as a gift. Shain says, “Please think twice before putting a dog under the tree. Animals come with major responsibilities, and the person receiving the ‘gift’ may not be prepared to provide for the dog’s care – financially, logistically and emotionally. Dogs are a very serious, long-term commitment and the decision to include one in your home – and family -- should only come after careful consideration, and not as a surprise.”
Unfortunately, a dog given as a surprise gift – particularly one purchased at a pet store or online – can ultimately end up being relinquished to an animal shelter due to the recipient’s lack of time or financial resources to raise an animal -- sick or healthy. And these returns only add to the overpopulation crisis already existing in our nation’s animal shelters. Roughly 2 million dogs are euthanized every year because not enough people choose adopting a pet over buying one.
The answer, according to The HSUS, is to save a life and adopt from your local animal shelter, where many wonderful pets are waiting for loving, permanent homes.
Shain explains: “Even for those seeking a purebred dog, one of every 4 dogs in animal shelters are purebred. People should always check their local shelter. Adopting from a shelter is a win-win because money is not the driving force of the transaction. Shelters put the animal’s welfare and health above everything else and only focus on the best match possible for a dog and family. They will never push a particular dog on you in order to make money.”
For those insisting on an animal for a holiday gift, The HSUS recommends a gift certificate covering the adoption fee at a local shelter. Wrap the certificate up with a dog bowl or pet toys so there is something to actually unwrap. Not as cute as the puppy under the tree, but a wiser decision for the animal and the recipient and still exciting to open.
Other options for buying or adopting a dog are purebred rescue groups and compassionate dog breeders. To locate a group that specializes in particular breeds, contact your local animal shelter.
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