Pets may be option for holiday gifts
Shelter staff recommends careful thought before adopting
Andy Brosig/News-Sun
Holiday gift giving time is rapidly approaching and, whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus or a different winter holiday of your choice, finding the perfect gifts for the family can be a challenge.
It’s not unusual to consider a pet for a child to teach them responsibility or for an older family member to provide companionship, but staff at the City of Hobbs Animal Adoption Center caution folks to consider carefully adding a fur baby to the family at any time of the year.
“Adoptions do go up at this time of year,” said Missy Funk, HAAC manager. “We’ll see some ‘smart’ adoptions — people with children will say, ‘Let’s go take a look.’ With kids home from school, having a pet gives them something to do, something to take care of. But it really depends on the (home) situation.”
What happens, for example, when kids return to school after the Christmas break?
With sometimes both parents working during the day, who’s responsible for taking care of a new puppy or kitten, Funk said.
“And what does the household look like?” she said. “And the toughest part is when people adopt a puppy or kitten for a family member. They don’t know if they’re ready for the responsibility. You need to make sure the (whole) family is ready for the responsibility.”
Too often, pets adopted as gifts end up being re-surrendered to the shelter, said Funk and animal control officer Jessica Silva.
Sometimes, families get overwhelmed by the long-term commitment associated with caring for a critter, they said. Or an existing pet has trouble adapting to the new personality of the animal invading their space, Funk said.
“It’s going to take time for (a new pet) to go from the shelter environment to a home environment,” Silva said. “You have to give them time to fit in with the family.”
That doesn’t mean families committed to bringing a new pet into the home over the holidays is a bad idea in every case, they said. But it isn’t a decision that should be rushed into lightly without the entire family discussing the pros and cons.
According to a 2013 study by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, it was a long-held belief animal shelters should deny all adoptions intended as gifts as a general rule, fearing the pet would be at higher risk of being returned. But the study found upwards of 96 percent of people who received pets as a gift said it increased their attachment to the animal.
It also found there was no difference in how attached they became to the new pet if the gift was a surprise.
There are some general tips for helping a pet adapt to its new home. First on the list is helping an animal relax into its new home:
• Leave the house frequently, even for short periods, to allow the critter to get used to you not always being there.
• Remain calm — if you’re excited or anxious, a dog’s anxiety increases.
• Give a new dog a treat-stuffed chew toy when you leave.
• Establish house rules early on. It’s important if there’s more than one human in the home everyone follows the same rules.
• Reward good behavior with treats. Don’t feed animals from the table.
• Take a dog training or obedience class.
“It’s a lot about training the family, too,” Funk said. “You have to be patient.”
There are currently about 40 animals available for adoption at HAAC, Silva said, both dogs and cats. Many of the dogs are living in the shelter while the cats are residing with shelter foster pet parents in the community as the shelter still operates under what’s known as managed intake, trying to get as many critters as possible with fosters to free up space at the shelter, she said..
“We only have so many kennels,” Silva said. “We have to be sure everybody has enough room.”
And space concerns increased this week as the shelter received two litters of puppies — 18 in total — on Monday.
The puppies were just dumped, with shelter staff finding one litter literally in a garbage bag at the front door when they came to work, Silva said.
One litter is barely old enough for adoption and is currently being housed at the shelter on North Grimes Street in Hobbs. The second litter is currently too young to adopt and is being cared for by a foster family, she said.
“It’s very disappointing to see people would be willing to just put them in a bag and leave them in an alley,” Silva said. “These two litters were kind of just abandoned.”
Anyone interested in being a foster for the Hobbs Animal Adoption Center may contact Funk at 575-937-9323 during regular business hours. People basically just need to love animals to qualify, Funk said.
And, if you want to do something to help but can’t foster, Funk suggests donating supplies to the foster program.
HAAC always needs milk replacer, wet puppy food, puppy pads, newspapers, towels, blankets and more to provide to foster families to reduce the burden on them, she said.
The HAAC is still working on limited hours set in place due to problems finding staff, Silva said. But the shelter is now fully staffed with Funk and four other employees, she said. They can still use volunteers to help with general care, walking dogs and more, every day.
As staff returns back to normal levels, the city is planning to return to more regular hours after the first of the year, Funk and Silva said.
The new hours will be Tuesday 1 – 5 p.m., Wednesday 2 – 6 p.m., Thursday 1 – 5 p.m. at 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The shelter will be closed Sunday and Monday.
