How many people give pets as a Christmas gift?

I have never felt that giving pets as a "throw away" holiday gift was a very good idea, especially to very young children. They don't really know how to care for or properly handle a kitten or small puppy. Then after the novelty wears off, the poor animal is often mistreated or neglected, then thrown outside when the coldest part of the winter is settling in to starve or freeze to death. PLEASE - don't give pets as gifts, especially without consulting parents or guardians!|||yeah i agree with you they aren't gifts they are living creatures and friends for life think about it you don't stick a person in a box and say 'merry christmas!' do you|||This is what we are doing to get my mother-in-law a dog for Christmas. We consulted with some local rescues and worked with them so they already know what we are looking for. So we will do a gift certificate method and take her to select her dog after Christmas. Since we already gave them informa

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|||-tion, we have already made them aware that she has a cat, and a visiting 3 month old baby (and a granddog). This helps us narrow the field to an appropriate pet so she doesn't get her hopes up and then get disappointed. And the application process has begun, so she can be pre-approved.

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|||My friend got 2 kittens for Christmas a year ago so parents can get animals for your kids. They know what they are doing.

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|||well you can give kids animals as chirstmas presents if the kids are 8 or olderand responsible

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|||parents should know what there doing if i was you i would worry about snakes put in toilets i do|||I think that giving a pet as a holiday gift is not a wide decision. It takes time to decide on what type of pet you'de like, and holiday pets are usually a spur of the moment decision.


As for getting a pet for someone elses child without consulting the parent(s)... that's just CRAZY !|||I agree. That is one of the worst ideas. Especially people other than the child's parents deciding to give them a pet. Most of the time the parent will end up caring for the pet or they will try to give it away to someone else.|||i thought people only gave that sort of gift in the movies ...


like lady and the tramp|||I find that it is not wise to give pets for Christmas.|||I think if you have been talking about it for some time and everyone involved is sure they want a dog/cat/bird/other animal, then it would be a nice suprise. Also you could get all the pet supplies as Christmas gifts.|||I totally agree, if your gonna get a pet for someone I think you should ask their other half or if its for a kid their parents if they definatly want one first, so many pets are but into care cause of it.|||I dont give them as gifts, but I dont nessisarily think it is a bad gift, that is if the person really wanted that pet. I would be sad if I received a pet for a gift, because I dont want one.