SPCA heads warning about gifting pets over holidays
Every parent wants to see their child’s face light up on Christmas and while a new puppy or kitten is not on every list to Santa, the Battlefords Humane Society urges parents to think long and hard before gifting an animal.
According to Michelle Spark, manager of the Battlefords Humane Society, the holiday season can yield plenty of pet adoptions, however, it also generates the most returns. This is why Spark has a certain set of rules that must be followed before she allows anyone to adopt a pet as a gift.
“We honestly think getting a pet as a gift can be an amazing thing; we are just very cautious about how we do it,” Spark said. “We will not adopt out an animal as a Christmas gift unless the person it is for knows they are getting it.”
Spark said there have been far too many cases where someone comes in and adopts a pet for someone else, only to come back two hours later and tell her the person they bought it for didn’t want it or couldn’t care for it. This, she said, is more unfair to the animals than anything else.