Gifting a pet to someone is about as dangerous as gifting a human baby to them, yet, well-meaning friends and relatives pass on puppies or kittens as presents, without realising that it could end badly for everyone concerned.
The choice to own a pet is one that is made after careful consideration of several things, such as time taken to feed them, walk them, take them to the vet, and other factors such as food and medical expenses and the availability of a trustworthy caretaker for the pet when the family is on vacation.
When a person is given a pet as a gift, he or she has not had the opportunity to evaluate their readiness for a pet and this often ends with the pet suffering serious neglect or abandonment. If it is a dog, he may be doomed to a life of habitual confinement without exercise or company, resulting in severe emotional distress or aggressive behaviour. Many other pets are given insufficient food or water (or none at all) by their owners. “One dog that was ‘gifted’ to his owner was given no water to drink. He was suffering from acute renal failure when we rescued him, but passed away during treatment”, says a volunteer with an animal shelter.
While some pets suffer at the hands of their uninterested owners, hundreds of others are secretly abandoned on the streets by their recipients who do not want to risk conflict by returning the ‘gift’ to the giver. These pets die in accidents or of starvation and those that are dumped in animal shelters go through terrible grief and trauma upon being separated from their human families and sent to a crowded enclosure with dozens of strange animals.
Gifting an animal breeds resentment between the giver and receiver and puts a helpless pet at risk. It is best to stick to non-living things for gifting , or wait till the family gets a pet on their own, after which you can shower them with toys or gifts for the pet that will always be appreciated and welcomed.
