Giving Pets as Gifts

The Boy has been clamoring for a rabbit for months, since shortly after our senior house bunny passed away early this spring. I wanted to give us all time to mourn, and to learn from our mistakes with the first bunny, so I resisted getting a new rabbit right away. Things got busy over the summer, I was swamped with school this passed fall, and now here we are in 'gift giving season', and he is still clamoring for a bunny. He does not know it yet, but he is getting one.

Having worked in the past as a veterinary assistant, I have seen all the pitfalls and disasters that come of surprising someone with a pet they did not choose, and of receiving a pet during the chaos of the holidaze. I have taken a number of precautions to make sure that The Boy gets exactly the bunny he wants, and that the transition is smooth for everyone involved. We were aided in doing so by the wealth of information available on our local Humane Society's web site, some of which I have posted below

Our local Humane Society is up to it's proverbial eyeballs with cast-off bunnies, and the products of unplanned bunny pregnancies, giving us a wide variety to choose from, and following their recommendation, I will be taking the Boy in to select his own best friend. I have also purchased every concievable thing the rabbit might need in it's first weeks with us, from food and bedding to toys, and put them into a giant new rabbit hutch purchased to create a wrappable "starter kit". You gotta have something to go under the tree, and this ensures that everything will be in place for our new arrival, and we can focus on getting to know our new family member.

Knowing that many other families are planning to add pets to their families this season, I thought I would post the tips our Humane Society had on their site below, in the hopes that these adoptions will be happy and successful, and bring all of you joy for years to come

"It's Christmas morning and your child was expecting a large box with a puppy jumping out of it. You resisted the temptation to bring a new pup into the home on this hustle and bustle morning and opted instead for a box full of puppy toys and supplies and a gift certificate from the Oregon Humane Society toward the adoption of a new pet. Your child and you then spend quality time together after the holiday looking at all the animals available for adoption at the Oregon Humane Society's shelter. The choice was obvious to your youngster - the 1½-year-old yellow lab mix with freckles on his nose. This might not have been your choice however. Good thing you purchased the gift certificate from the Oregon Humane Society to use towards the adoption of this new bundle of joy. It was better to wait a day or two to make the perfect selection of a pet than rush into a decision. Don't worry about whether you'll find the right one; you will. There are 150 homeless pets looking for loving families everyday at the Oregon Humane Society - from mutts to purebreds, large and small, young and old - you'll find your new best friend at The Humane Society."