Animal charity in festive message

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

An animal welfare charity has urged people not to give animals as gifts over the festive period.

The Scottish SPCA has launched its seasonal campaign requesting the public not to give puppies, kittens or any other young animals as Christmas presents.


It says many of them become next year's victims of neglect, cruelty or abandonment and dog and cat homes are overwhelmed with unwanted animals by January.

To try to prevent people getting a pet on impulse for Christmas, the Scottish SPCA has suspended the re-homing of all animals from its animal welfare centres at Ayr, Balmore, Dundee, Dunragit, Inverness, Mellerstain and Stirling.

It has also suspended the re-homing of puppies and kittens from centres at Bothwell Bridge, the Glasgow Dog and Cat Home, Lothian and Milton between December 17 and January 3. These centres will continue to re-home adult dogs and cats during this period.

John Briggs, head of the society's uniformed division, said: "The Scottish SPCA is at the forefront of promoting responsible pet ownership and that is the reason we suspend the re-homing of puppies and kittens until after the festive period.

"We strongly advise that people don't purchase or acquire any new animal at Christmas. The festive time is when domestic routines are turned on their heads and many people go on holiday - the worst time to introduce a new pet to a household.

"It is vital that prospective owners realise that pets are a commitment for the entire lifetime of the animal, and not just a whim that can be exchanged like a pair of socks or thrown out during spring cleaning.

"The Scottish SPCA always has a deluge of animals arriving into the centres a few weeks after Christmas - puppies and kittens that are unwanted, and often older dogs and cats, once very much members of the family but now abandoned and neglected."

Last year the Scottish SPCA cared for a record number of animals, prior to, during and after the festive period.

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