Tips for new holiday pet owners
There are few things more adorable than cuddly puppy jumping out of a box on Christmas morning and into the arms of a gleeful child.
But if you couldn't find that perfect puppy or kitten in time for Christmas, don't fret.
You may actually be better off forgoing that perfect Instagram moment and waiting until just after the holidays to get that new family pet.
"The surprise of (giving a child) a new pet on Christmas morning is wonderful," Hilton Head Humane Association director Franny Gerthoffer said earlier this week. "And we would never want to discourage anyone from adopting."
But, she said, "there are always different chemistries between pets and families."
So it can be better for everyone involved if they get a chance to know each other a little bit before a final decision is made and new pet is brought home, she said.
"It's a science to match families up with the right pet," Gerthoffer said. "...We make a big deal out of letting kids play together with the animals and make a little party out of it."
The local Humane Association offers a gift card that parents can give children to be used to adopt a pet at a later time.
The shelter is open the day after Christmas in case the kids simply can't wait to pick out their new furry friend.
Gerthoffer said the gift card program, which was introduced several years ago, has "worked out really well and helped keep the ... rate (of newly adopted animals being returned to the shelter) down."
While she said the shelter's return rate is typically "very low," it can pick up during the holiday season when pets are more likely to be adopted on a whim.
Roni LaCoste, owner of All Four Paws pet supply store in Bluffton, said parents who buy or adopt pets, particularly puppies, as gifts "should never underestimate the time it takes to properly train them."
"And the truth is a five or six-year-old is not responsible enough to take care of a pet. So if you get your kid a pet, just know that you're the one who is going to be taking care of it," she said as a word of advice to parents.
She advised that before families bring a pet home, they make sure they have all the supplies they need on hand. That includes things such as leashes, crates, toys and plenty of food.
Unfortunately sometimes even the best-intentioned and well-prepared new pet owners find themselves in over their heads.
"Once (pets) get adopted we want to do everything we can to make sure they stay in the home," Gerthoffer said. "But our policy is that the animals are welcome back."
"Sometimes it just doesn't work and that's life," she said.
Follow reporter Lucas High on at twitter.com/IPBG_Lucas.
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This story was originally published December 24, 2015 at 5:54 PM with the headline "Tips for new holiday pet owners."