For many children, the first thing on their birthday or Christmas wishlist is a puppy. And every now and then, a puppy comes wrapped in a box (with air holes of course), and the family is happy and excited… for awhile.

Unfortunately, weeks later the puppy generally ends up at a shelter. After the holidays, shelters see a drastic increase of drop offs. The reasons? “I didn’t know he was going to be so high maintenance”, “We’re moving and the landlord said no pets” and my personal favorite, “I didn’t realize he was going to get so big!” As ridiculous as these excuses sound, they’re not made up. You would think a grown adult would realize that a dog is high maintenance, or do the research to realize that the place they are moving isn’t dog friendly before they went and purchased the dog.

Now, this isn’t stating that no one should adopt a dog or other pet for a holiday or celebration. Owning a pet takes a lot of hard work – especially puppies and kittens. Potential pet adopters must take into account necessary training, walks, cleaning and have an appropriate amount of finances to take care of the animal if it gets sick. “At holidays we are even more careful because of impulse adopting. People are filled with the holiday spirit and kindness and generosity. They may not have fully thought out all the responsibilities of caring for a dog and making a life-long commitment. We make sure they think of these things and then if still committed we may suggest waiting until after the holidays which are so  busy and stressful – sometimes not best way to introduce a new dog to your home,” says Trish Spencer, founder of Boxer Luv Rescue, a local boxer dog rescue in Phoenix, AZ.

The problem is that too many people make spur of the moment decisions and adopt before they think about the work that goes into owning a pet. Having a pet is fun, and is one of the best things to happen to some people. The work for owning a pet is worth it, but if one can’t do the work, he or she should not purchase a pet. There are already too many pets in shelters. Therefore, if you are ready for a pet, head over to your local shelter to find your forever friend!