Should You Give a Pet As a Gift? It Depends
Puppies and kittens are cute, but read this expert advice before attaching a bow to their collars and handing them to a pal
There is nothing cuter than a puppy or kitten with a red bow around their neck – and there’s almost nothing as controversial in the animal welfare world as whether people should give pets as gifts. But one thing we can all agree on is that gifting an animal should be taken very seriously. Here are some tips if you’re thinking about it.
1. Consider alternatives to picking out the pet yourself
At least half of the fun of adopting a new pet is picking one out, so consider gifting the funds to cover the cost of adoption, then schedule a time to bring your partner or family member in to meet the pet of their dreams. Or join the tens of thousands of caring people who open their homes to a foster pet in need each year, giving you an opportunity to see how a litter of kittens or puppies does in your home and letting your friend decide who they’d like to keep. They don’t call it ‘pick of the litter’ for nothing.
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2. Is it the right time to gift a pet?
Maybe you’ve been in a relationship with your significant other for a while, and you’ve both talked extensively about adding a pet. You know intimately what kind of animal they want and the type of activities they want to do with your new companion, and you’re ready to have a conversation about who would keep the pet if the relationship were to end. If this is the case, talk to your local shelter about options. Some organisations will require everyone in the home to meet a pet before finalising an adoption. Others have found that when the gift-giver has received all the necessary counselling and will be part of the pet’s life too, pets given as gifts are no more likely to be returned to a shelter than a typical adoptee. (This is backed by researchopens in a new tab conducted by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, too.)
3. Can you mitigate some of the extra stress?
I can still picture the day I came home from my grandmother’s after two weeks of summer vacation to find that my mother had adopted a new puppy from the shelter while my brother and I were away. Her reasoning was simply that we had picked out our two cats, and she wanted a turn deciding on the dog we’d grow up with. I walked into our house, dropped my bag and screamed at the top of my lungs, so full of excitement that my noise sent the puppy hiding under a chair. Harry Truman (the dog) eventually got used to our childhood chaos, but looking back, some preparation might have helped make that first introductionopens in a new tab – and his first few days – a little less stressful. Set up a room in your home for the pet to acclimate, or spend time with your kids watching videos on how to appropriately (and safely) greet a new cat or dog.
4. Build a foundation for success
If you want to give something to unwrap, fill a basket with a leadopens in a new tab, collaropens in a new tab, bowlsopens in a new tab, toysopens in a new tab, treats, a gift card for a training class or vet care, and a positive training book. After the holidays are over and life settles down, check out your local shelter and rescue groups, or do the research required to find a reputable breeder. Consider an adult rescue dogopens in a new tab: sure, puppies are totally cute and fun, but they’re also a lot of work. Many adult dogs are house-trained and have all sorts of behavioural skills up their furry sleeves. This is one situation in which the best surprise is no surprise at all.
5. Have a plan if it doesn’t work out
Maybe you misunderstood your partner’s love of Mastiffs, and they’re less than impressed to have a giant, drooling dog in the apartment. Maybe your new pet doesn’t get along with everyone in the home, or the senior cat you adopted for your ageing parent is just too much for them to handle. Sometimes, even with the most thoughtful process and research, we don’t always know whether a pet will be a good match. Have you talked to the shelter about their return process? Would you consider holding on to the pet (if it’s safe to do so) and helping the shelter find a better match?
If you’ve gifted a senior dog or cat to a senior relative in your life, create a plan for if they were to pass away or become too sick to care for them. If you’re gifting to a child and hoping they’ll do all the litter box scooping and dog walking, what’s your plan for when that inevitably falls through? (I say this as someone who once gave a 12-minute presentation on how often I would scoop the box if my mom would let me get a kitten, and then immediately forgot all responsibilities once he arrived.)
When gifting a pet takes into consideration both the animal’s needs and the new pet parent’s lifestyle, it can be successful. But if you’re unsure, there’s nothing like opening a card from your significant other who pretended to hate cats all these years, giving you the green light to pick one out from your local shelter or rescue – and this way, you can get the happy screaming out of your system before the pet arrives.
