After Holidays, Gifted Animals Winding Up in Shelters

Jan 14th 2010

Garish sweaters aren't the only presents being returned after the holiday rush of gift-giving. Puppies and kittens given as Christmas gifts are being given up and have begun trickling into animal shelters around New York City, reports the New York Daily News.

"It's a common problem after the holidays," Sandra DeFeo, a director at the Humane Society of New York, tells New York Daily News. "Lots of people come to us before Christmas and say they want to get an animal as a gift for their fiancée or their mother or their brother. Then after Christmas, it hits home with the recipient, who didn't realize how much time a pet would take. People admit they are not prepared and they want us to take care of the animal."

Case in point? A shepherd-collie mix puppy -- given as a Christmas gift to a four-year-old by a family friend -- was taken by the child's parents to Animal Haven, an animal shelter and adoption center in downtown Manhattan, where the puppy was surrendered, reports the New York Daily News. "[The father] didn't want to give up the puppy but was not prepared and couldn't handle the puppy," Jennifer Bristol of Animal Haven tells the New York Daily News.

Which types of dogs are most likely to be given up? Larger breeds, such as Labrador retrievers, any type of hound mix, such as beagles or basset hounds, and allergy-prone pooches such as bulldogs, DeFeo of the Humane Society of New York tells the New York Daily News.