Woodville animal welfare on why people should do homework before getting a pet for Christmas

There's so much to think about when getting a pet, and it's not always the best Christmas gift.

This time of year, people are thinking of Christmas presents and some may even be looking at giving a pet.

But there are things to consider before doing so, says Shirley Silvester, former president of Woodville Animal Welfare.

It’s not a simple matter of making sure the pet is desexed as there are also other things to think about such as whether there will be problems down the track, like illness, or the owner may have an allergy.

“It’s a living thing, it’s not an accessory,” Shirley says.

Sometimes the intention is to give a pet to a child, but what if the child is too young to understand such things as not waking a kitten when it’s sleeping, or not carting a kitten around?

Or in the case of a puppy, making sure it gets training.

Shirley was with animal welfare for four years, and in the first year, they rehomed 25 pets, the second year, 50, the third year there were 100 and the fourth there were 72.

She says they vet the people who want to adopt an animal, making sure they have all the information they need to help them get the animal settled in.

If the pet is for a young child, a parent needs to understand that they’re likely to be doing all the work.

“It’s not the young child that’s responsible, it’s the parent.

“If the parent takes responsibility, that’s fine.”

If not, Shirley says she might suggest they postpone until the child is old enough to understand, but she says so much depends on the child.

“We’ve had quite young kids that are absolutely wonderful.”

It’s not always known until a family gets the pet home how they will tolerate handling, but Shirley says that in the shelter they do know which animals are confident and which are more timid.

“There are cases where we wouldn’t show an animal to certain people.

“If they’ve got a young child, we can give them one that’s more robust.”

There have been documented cases where animals have been given only to be abandoned, which Shirley finds discouraging.

“There’s all sorts of animal welfare rules. It’s an offence to abandon a pet.

“We feel very sad because the poor animal has been bonded to a family and suddenly it’s got nowhere to go.”

Dumping an animal can lead to all kinds of problems, including diseases and even kittens that have been on a farm are vulnerable to such things as cat flu or calicivirus - a severe respiratory infection.

Shirley says what most people don’t understand about cat flu is that in 90 per cent of cases, it can be a lifelong weakness which means it can flare up any time the animal is stressed.

“Dumping a cat that’s not been vaccinated is exposing them to that, because it’s everywhere.”

Another thing people need to consider is when getting pets off the internet it can be expensive to get vaccinations, worming, flea treatment and desexing as well as micro-chipping if that hasn’t already been done.

Shirley advises checking if the pet comes with a book or documentation from a vet noting any such treatments.

In a nutshell, getting a pet isn’t a decision to be taken lightly, but the best people like Shirley and the team at Woodville Animal Welfare can do is try to educate potential pet owners, so they can ensure they’re giving the animals the best life they can have.