Gouves+Animal+Shelter+Paws+for+Thoughts+January+issue+2020

'A dog is for life, not
just for Christmas'
If you live in the UK, the chances are,
you are familiar with that phrase -
and if you're not, we're pretty sure
you'll agree with it as much as we do.
We know that dogs are a lot of work,
and not just things to buy on a whim,
right?
Unfortunately, it's a sad fact that
many people don't see it this way as
an investigation by UK charity Dogs
Trust - who wrote that iconic phrase
in 1978 – found out.
In just two branches of the rescue
charity in Scotland, 703 people
wanted to abandon their pet in the
weeks just after Christmas in 2016.
Across the UK, this number was a
staggering 3596 - and the charity was
receiving an average of about one
phone call every five minutes.
Many of these dogs were brand new
additions to the family, bought
impulsively, or after barely any
research.
The reasons why the poor pooches
were being abandoned were also
noted and many of them are
completely ridiculous, revealing the
'carefree attitude' that many people
seem to have about caring for a pet.
Here are some of the worst reasons
given to the charity by people wanting
to give up their dog:
1. I won a free holiday and I couldn’t
take my dogs with me
2. I’m a vegetarian but he always
wanted to eat meat
3. I got him as a secret Santa present
4. She was too friendly and wanted to
greet every dog and human we met
on a walk
5. He was panting too much
6. He didn’t like it when we played
dress up
7. She sleeps in her own bed all
night – I thought she would want to
sleep in my bed
Hard to believe - but these are true -
and all of these reasons show that
those people did little to no research
about having a pet dog.
Every dog irresponsibly bought or
adopted, and then given up, means
that another dog in need loses a place
at a shelter.
16