Sault Ste. Marie — While buying clothing and accessories for your beloved dog or cat is part of the holiday experience for pet owners, officials in Sault Ste. Marie are stressing caution over making pets the gift themselves this holiday season.
Katie Davison runs Northern Bandana Co., which specializes in doggy bandanas. She says pet owners love to spoil their fur babies over the holidays.
"I spoil my pups,” she says. “They have lots of bandanas from me and other local companies as well. And who doesn’t want to spoil their dog on a holiday?"
Over the weekend, Davison set up at Strathclair Dog Park to sell her wares and take pictures of people’s pets sitting with Santa Claus. The pictures were taken free of charge, but with a request that donations be made to the Sault Ste. Marie Humane Society.
"We can always use a lot of sheets, towels, blankets, things like that, cat food, dog food, cat toys, treats,” says the Humane Society’s Laura Smith. “We always have a higher cat population, so we do require a lot more cat donations."
While buying presents for your pets is okay, officials say that buying pets as presents is not such a good idea.
"There’s a lot of chaos surrounding the holidays, so bringing a pet into the home during that time - it’s a lot for them," said Smith. "They’re going into a new home, getting used to a new family."
She added the Humane Society prefers adoptions be an informed, family decision.
"Everyone in the household should be on-board, have met the pet, and that way it’s a good fit," said Smith. "And it helps reduce any adoption returns from not being a good fit."
Should you decide to finalize an adoption over the holiday season, Smith says the Humane Society is willing to hold your new pet until after the busy time is over.
