Why Animals Don’t Belong Under the Christmas Tree

by Dan Paden

Like many, I’ve spent a fair amount of time at the mall recently, shopping for presents. I had paused before the pet store there on several occasions before the holiday season, but the other day I noticed a new sign hanging in the window, advertising the animals sold inside as great “gifts.” I shook my head. Unlike the shirts, socks, and electronic gadgets we’re all lucky to unwrap each year, animals are individuals whose many needs—physical, social, and emotional—demand a serious commitment on the part of their guardians. That fact alone made the sign’s message patently false at best and cruelly irresponsible at worst.

My childhood memories only reinforce this conclusion. I was given three animals as “gifts.” The first, a hamster who had given birth just before the store knowingly sold her to us, bled to death only a day after coming home. Her “replacement” lasted all of six weeks before passing away. It wasn’t the store’s fault this time, though. It was mine, though I was only 8 and had little idea of what properly caring for any animal entailed. But an innocent animal paid with his life for the sake of a “learning experience,” which was the reason given—and a poor one at that—for buying me an animal.

Two years later, I begged my parents to buy me a rabbit for Christmas, promising that I would be responsible for her. I was not. She was quickly shoved into a cage in our dark, drafty garage. I only paraded her out like a show-and-tell item on rare occasions, never once giving her the attention and care she deserved. A year later, once she had outgrown her pitiful “home” and suffered through my incompetent care and waning interest, I deserted her in a nearby field, foolishly thinking that this animal who depended on me for everything could suddenly fend for herself. I discarded her—much like others before me had discarded tires there—with the best of intentions, naïve and irresponsible as they were.

My tale is hardly unique. Animals given at the holidays, though at first welcomed and embraced, often are neglected in the home or, worse, tossed outside with the Christmas tree and the wrapping paper. As soon as the kitten isn’t quite as cute, or the puppy isn’t so easy to cuddle, out they go. If they’re lucky, they’re given shelter, food, and water. But many of them, like my rabbit, are left to starve. Others are forgotten at the end of a chain in the backyard.

I see them every day. One of my volunteer activities is to deliver doghouses and fresh straw to people who will not let their dogs inside their homes. Some of these dogs were Christmas gifts or spur-of-the-moment purchases. Now they spend 24 hours a day, every single day of the year, chained away from the family that they yearn to be part of. When I can’t persuade these folks to bring their dogs into their houses, I bring warmth and protection from the bitter cold of winter. It is a little comfort, but wouldn’t it have been better if these dogs had gone to homes where they were truly wanted?

Animals can be a beautiful and enriching addition to our lives. But I’ve learned, personally and painfully, that far fewer of us can provide for their needs than anyone would like to admit. The animals end up paying the miserable, even fatal price of such a failure on our parts. Please, take the decision to bring an animal into your home seriously. So many of us, myself included, have failed in that regard. As a result, our shelters are especially overwhelmed a few months after the holidays with animals whose appeal kids have outgrown. Besides, purchasing any animals from pet stores only perpetuates all the cruelty inherent in that trade and its breeding practices.

If a loved one is truly ready for the serious commitment that animals deserve from us, give one of our nation’s millions of homeless shelter animals the precious gift of a warm, loving home. Otherwise, buy some gloves or a bowling ball—at least they can be returned.

Dan Paden is a writer for the Domestic Animal Issues & Abuse Department for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510; HelpingAnimals.org.