Good point, Jesse, though in both cases the teasers were little boys who I hope have learned their lessons by now. I was a little girl, which is probably why I remember the incidents so strongly…

& Buyer Beware: Pets are such hard work.
We purchased a puppy for the kids. OMG!
I feel like I have another child.

However, we love our dog very much.

It discourages people from buying pets during a specific time of the year. If the family really wants to add a pet to their family, they have the rest of the year to find one.

Also, I wonder what kind of message one sends to their kids if Christmas is the only time or best time to get a pet?

I think kittens are amazingly cute, but I’m touch and go with cats (I’ve had a couple bad experiences where I got attacked because someone else had been teasing the cat).

It sounds more like you’re touch and go with people who don’t know how to act around animals! (Dogs snap over some similar things, in my experience.)

I agree with the previous posters – my assumption upon finishing this post was that they were doing it to make people think twice before adopting. I wonder if they work with a rescue group to do the adoptions (which would make that situation more likely) or if they just pull animals from the shelter and sell them?

You make good points about the ongoing costs of pet ownership. I believe somewhere online I saw an article or calculator related to this, but can’t seem to lay my hands on it now.

I completely agree with you that giving pets for holidays is a terrible idea. Pets are a responsibility not to be undertaken lightly, and certainly not on a whim. However, I have my suspicions that the pet store is not trying to help America be more pet-responsible, but instead focusing on making the utmost profit from the season. But if the side effect is that people make more responsible decisions, you’re right–it’s not necessarily bad.

Mrs. Micah,

I agree with you on the cat personality bit, and prefer older cats myself. I want to know what I’m getting into. Of course, I adopted a stray cat whose disposition is lovely towards humans and horrible towards other animals, so I’ll probably be a one-cat household forever.

But I don’t think enough people connect the two. The adorable, snuggly, playful kitten may well grow up to be an entirely disdainful or even evil cat. Or it might stay snuggly and playful. There’s really no telling. The only guarantee is that it’ll be a cat–and even that may not have gotten into their heads.

I don’t think you can forget about the other costs associated with pet care as well – shots, food, toys, vet bills, treats, etc. When you add those, pets are never a “bargain.”

Of course, just like having kids, you can’t make the decision to have a pet based on money alone! :)

Thousands of cats and dogs are purchased as Christmas presents every year. Often, the kids or parents get tired of the pets and then promptly toss them out.

Across the pond, they dislike pet abandonment so strongly that pet shops stop selling puppies and kittens for Christmas. (The policy might have changed since I was there.)

I’d much prefer the pet stores willingly reduce the number of pets sold as Christmas presents instead of another law being issued from above.