One day into Hanukkah and nine days before Christmas, this web site considers the practice of giving animals as holiday or birthday presents.
The right animal for the person is the perfect gift that will keep on giving joy for years. Maybe even longer than the ten years cats and most dogs can reasonably be expected to live; some cats and dogs linger in this world for closer to twenty years.
Unfortunately, too many people go to a shelter, see an animal that they would like to keep if their present pets or their landlords or their medical conditions would allow it, and decide that the animal will make a perfect gift for someone on their list. "Wouldn't you like a puppy of your very own, dear?" they ask a grandchild. "Yes, please!" says the six-year-old who's watched a movie or heard a story about someone else's once-in-a-lifetime pet. So the puppy the grandparent wants is delivered to the child's home, where the parents don't really want it. Neither the parents nor the child know how to rear and train a puppy. The child and the puppy fail to bond. Before the end of January the poor little pup is in a shelter again.
Then there's the animal-gift-as-child-substitute typically delivered to a young lady by a suitor, though the gender roles can be reversed. When it works, it's beautiful. If anything goes wrong with the animal, the couple are likely to break up.
If you know someone who you think would be a happier and nicer human for having the experience of learning to communicate with a different species--as we all do--please, for the animal's sake, get the human's consent first and build an understanding that you'll help the person figure out how to live with the animal. You can't assume that everyone who dog-sits for friends' well-trained, well-kept adult dogs will be able to cope with a puppy. Kittens are vastly easier to train since they instinctively like to keep their homes clean and nobody expects them to walk at heel or guard property, but humans do not instinctively know how to live with kittens, either. Nor with chickens. Nor with parakeets.
Six-year-olds can learn to make feeding and watering animals part of their daily routine. They can do some cleaning and grooming, and, even if an adult needs to hold on to both dog and child, they can walk with a dog. With the right approach they can observe what an adult, or a professional, needs to do for their animal friends and be psychologically prepared to learn to do that themselves when they're older.
Small children benefit from having "jobs" and responsibilities, as do the more intelligent kind of dogs--and even social cats! In theory, some adults used to imagine, children would like lying back and being pampered. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do! Just enjoy being a child!" Of course, the nature of a child is to GROW UP. Children actually enjoy being children when they have ways to use their increasing size, strength, knowledge, and attention spans. They love having responsibilities. The children I've known well, like the child I remember being, made up jobs and responsibilities of their own if adults didn't give them any. Most animals reward humans' attention, so an animal (of suitable size) is often an excellent way for a child to show responsibility.
"Oh, but what if a social opportunity comes along and the child has to miss out...I mean I'd hate to lose the Harbin account because my child turned down an invitation to hang out with the Harbin child!" Grow up, parent. One of the big problems facing humans as a species today is that people haven't learned to stick to a plan and make arrangements to deal with any exciting distractions that come along. As a result too many young men and women don't respect each other and, if they manage to overcome mutual distrust and ill will long enough to flop into bed, don't know what to do with their babies. They think "dating" means indulging their feelings, rather than proving that they're responsible and reliable enough to deserve consideration as mates...urgh ick. Animals don't seem to mind if "their" humans arrange to let someone else feed, walk, and groom them now and then. Children who learn that, before accepting invitations, they need to arrange for someone else to walk their dogs or feed their goldfish, have a better chance of remembering that, before making a science project of finding out how much alcohol they can survive drinking, they need to designate a driver. It probably is best to expect that children will never like their parents' friends' children, but the child who is responsible for a pet has a valid excuse that will make a good impression and thus might have a chance of making friends with the Harbins' spoilt brat, if anyone ever can.
But adults need to commit to helping a small child be a good pet owner. My parents' idea that we should learn to become pet owners by claiming pet chickens in a family flock was a good idea.
Often children think they want a particular kind of pet based on a story, and have not thought through the aspects of living with that kind of animal that aren't the focal point of the story. Spending more time with an animal of the kind a child fancies can help children make more informed decisions about whether they want to commit to owning one. Animal rescue organizations can help--always assuming that shelter staff are the right sort of people. Letting children visit, socialize, and clean cages can help children decide whether they really want to keep an animal. "Fostering" can get children over the hurdle of "You must take care of your animal or it will go back to the shelter."
Not all shelter animals are good pets for children. Some animals are in shelters precisely because they failed to bond with other children in the past. Some animals' herd instincts make them want to bond with the alpha human; some are just stressed out by children's behavior--and apt to try to defend themselves against it. Sometimes children, like adults, think they want one kind of animal and, while getting acquainted with an animal of that kind at a shelter, fall in love with a different kind.
Some animal welfare organizations really have a goal of herding people into slums where they'll be easier for a totalitarian government to control--or get rid of--and part of their agenda is to make it harder for people to own pets. Humane Society leaders have said, of dogs, cats, and other domestic animals, that according to their agenda "One more generation and they're out." If you don't want more animals you should be proactive about making sure your pets can't reproduce, and if you don't want your animals to be lost or stolen you should make sure they stay on your property, but you should also be aware that an obsession with getting every pet--even hens--sterilized and keeping every animal indoors is part of that old-time socialist religious doctrine, really aimed at abolishing private ownership of land. Some animal rescue organizations are so fully dedicated to this doctrine that parents won't want to expose children to the people who work in those organizations. Fortunately very few people have ever been capable of taking socialism that seriously for very long. Many people who work at animal shelters really care about animals and want them to find good homes. Children are inherently good at sorting out the right kind of shelter workers, because the wrong kind tend to be hypervigilant about NOT letting CHILdren adopt animals.
This week's photo contest features shelter animals who are known to get along well with children...some children. (Animals who get along well with ten-year-olds, or with infants, are not necessarily cool with two-year-olds.) Petfinder currently sorts animals that are known to be "good with children 8 and up" and "good with children under age 8." How they know this depends on the history provided by former owners who put animals up for adoption, and foster families--if any. If parents and children actually visit the animal shelter they may find animals who are (or are not) congenial with their children, where no history was available. When animals are known to behave well with one age group or the other, not both, two animals have been chosen for the location.
Zipcode 10101: Kevin McAllister from Highland Park
He was found "at home, alone" without any humans nearby, like the character Macaulay Culkin played in those movies. He's cautious about new people but not aggressive in self-defense, and seemed comfortable with children of any size. He is a fairly large neutered male--what some would call a gib cat, as distinct from a tom. ("Tom" and "Gib" used to be common names for men, and "Tib" used to be a common name for women and a generic name for a female cat. Humans called "Gib" had probably been christened Gilbert; humans called "Tib" had probably been christened Isabel.)
Zipcode 20202: Mystery from DC
Though less than a year old, Mystery already weighs more than ten pounds. Sometimes such large kittens have reached their full size early and don't get much bigger (like our Samantha, who was a large kitten but grew up to be a small cat). More often they keep growing. The mystery about this friendly tomkitten is whether he'll stop at a healthy weight of fifteen pounds, or grow to his full ancestral size. He seems to be a good-natured, lovable fellow who gets along well with other kittens, with adult cats, and with his foster family's children and dog. His foster family's children are young. As a guess he'd probably do well with school-age children, but this is not actually known.
He's not formed a close bond with another kitten, but a discount on the adoption fee is available if you take another kitten. The shelter has several to choose from. People who don't want to keep kittens should be more vigilant about making sure their cats don't produce any.
Eclipse from Hyattsville
This well fed, but not oversized, spring kitten is quiet but willing to cuddle up beside a quiet human. He is known to behave well with gentle school-aged children. They don't insist that he be adopted along with another kitten, but kittens are much easier to live with when they can chase and wrestle with each other.
Zipcode 30303: Jammy and Percy from Atlanta
They're not known to be related, though they might be distant cousins. Both were brought to a county animal shelter when they were just babies. Both have longish fluffy hair and the look of spring kittens who are going to be impressively large, dignified tomcats in another two years--possibly Maine Coon crossbreeds. They buddied up and are available for adoption as a pair. Jammy likes to purr and cuddle with people he knows. Percy is more aloof. Both seem to be good-natured and tolerant of children.
Zipcode 10101: Mocha from NYC
This pregnant beagle is taking applications for a permanent home, though she will not actually move in until the beaglets are eating solid food. You don't have to adopt the whole family. Mocha is known to behave well with small children and other dogs. Animals who are friendly with adults and small children usually don't have issues with school-age children, but this web site will take any excuse to encourage adoption of another dog...
Derry from NYC
Derry is thought to be what happens when a Beagle and a German Shepherd mate. Smaller than one breed, bigger than the other, very sensitive and loyal. In fact the right home for him might end up adopting his human too. Derry and his man lost their home in a fire. They couldn't be placed in the same shelter. Derry pined and mourned in the animal shelter, but cheered up when taken to a foster home. They say it's hard to believe he's fourteen years old. He has "pep in his step" and seems to like the company of school-age children.
Zipcode 20202: Tiffany from Hagerstown
This cheerful, friendly retriever pup was rescued from the streets in Puerto Rico and placed in a foster home in Maryland by an organization based in DC. She's got crate-training and potty-training fairly well down, though they warn that puppies tend to backslide a bit when they move into new homes. At seven months old, she weighs forty pounds and has a slim, adolescent look. She sounds like the sort of dog I would have tried to avoid when I was eight years old, but hey, if she does want to knock people over and half-drown them in drool, it's puppy love. She needs a home where her sweet innocent heart will be well protected from the uncaring world--she also sounds like the sort of dog who might run out into traffic, inviting the cars to play. If you want to adopt her, a good move might be to send the organization a photo of your large yard and five-foot fence, though they don't say those are required.
Hunter from Alabama via DC
Born into a feral dog pack in Alabama, Hunter and his siblings were rescued while still young enough to become pets. Hunter is said to have "the sweetest personality," even with baby humans; he just soaks up good will like a sponge. His ancestors are thought to have included beagles and other hounds. He is bigger than a typical beagle.
Zipcode 30303: Ladybug from Atlanta
This ten-pound Chihuahua was placed in a shelter when she had puppies. Seriously. People. If you do not want puppies, then...have it done in the winter, before more puppies start to happen. Anyway, the puppies are grown and on their own. Ladybug is known to behave well with children of all ages, cats, and other dogs.
