ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Christmas will be here next week, which means many presents will be unwrapped, including some furry new friends.
While new pets are a welcome present for many, Liberal Animal Shelter Director Tara Logan said there are many factors to consider before adopting a new pet for the holidays.
“First off, is it a family decision and something EVERYONE in the household has agreed upon? Having a pet takes everyone as far as care, training, and everything else, so getting a pet has to be a decision everyone in the family is in on,” Logan said. “Another question to consider is do you actually have the time to dedicate to a new pet? Puppies especially take a lot of time and care at the beginning, and they have a lot of energy, so like I said before, a new pet has to be something the WHOLE family commits to. Something else to consider is do you have the patience to deal with a new pet and train it properly? New animals are about like human babies in the sense that they have to be fed and taken to the bathroom and have to be trained, so you have to have patience and time to commit to that. If you happen to be renting, do you have the landlord's permission to have pets, and are there any extra deposits/costs, etc., associated with getting a new pet? If you have a house, is your yard pet-friendly? I.e., if you decide on a smaller dog, are there any weaknesses in the fence the animal could get through, or is it strong enough to help hold a larger dog, if that's what you end up adopting? And depending on what animal you adopt, is your home an adequate size? Cats usually make themselves at home just about anywhere, but if you're adopting a dog, you have to make sure there's adequate space for it to walk around and do dog stuff.”
And the considerations do not end there, Logan said.
“There are also multiple costs associated with having a pet such as veterinary bills, grooming, food, vaccinations, etc., so you also have to keep in mind whether or not you can take all of that on – it's not a situation where you just pay the adoption fees at the shelter and then just go home and forget about everything else,” Logan said. “A last thing to take into consideration is, do you have proper shelter for the pet? I.e., if the weather gets really cold, is there somewhere warm where they can go, or if the weather is really hot, is there a shady spot or somewhere cooler where they can take shelter? There are definitely a lot of factors to consider when thinking about whether or not you'd be able to give a pet a good home with you because a pet is not just a commitment of a few months, it's for life, so you have to be beyond sure you're ready to take such a responsibility on.”
Logan added she definitely expects more visitors to the shelter in the coming weeks.
“Around this time of the year, I feel like we have a lot more lookilus coming in to see what all animals we have at the shelter and are considering getting a dog or cat as a holiday present for the family,” Logan said. “And I'll adopt out any animal(s) you want, but I want people to know, again, once you sign the adoption forms, that's a long-term commitment and not something you can bring back after just a few months. We definitely hope to see a lot of people coming in and looking at our animals, because they're all amazing. And, the more lookilus we get in here, the more potential we have for getting these animals into their forever homes – ideally, this shelter would be empty at Christmas because every animal would be going to a good home. We have a wide variety of dogs for people to look at, though we currently don't have any cats because we recently went through a spree where everyone was wanting to adopt a cat, so they're all adopted out.”
Logan said the shelter will work with families and individuals to make sure they end up with the right furry friend.
“With any adoption, we encourage parents to bring in their children and let them meet the animal(s) and see if there's a good rapport there,” Logan said. “We also encourage people to bring any pet(s) they already have and let them get acquainted because just like humans, not all animals get along due to personality or whatever the case may be. I've actually got a dog myself who's an amazing dog but doesn't get along with other female dogs – you can put her with a bunch of male dogs and she's just fine, but if there's another female in the mix, the claws come out. We have what we call our family room where you bring your family, we'll bring in the animal and everyone meets. If you happen to bring another pet with you, everyone will start out on leashes and if everyone gets along, we'll drop the leashes and give them a little more freedom and see what else happens. But, if the animals don't click right away, we'll keep everyone leashed and go from there. We encourage anyone and everyone, no matter when you decide to adopt a new animal, to come in for a meet-and-greet. I will also say a lot of times, it's not the human(s) who choose the pet(s), it's the pet(s) who choose the human(s). We have families who come in all the time wanting to see a dog they saw on our Facebook page, but they just end up not meshing for whatever reason, but then another animal comes in and everyone just completely falls in love.”
For those looking to adopt a new animal soon, Logan offered encouragement to visit the shelter.
“Anyone wanting to adopt an animal fills out an application online, and once we get that, we'll get in touch with you via email and work out a good meet-and-greet time – which is automatic – and then we get to know you a little better and your lifestyle and see if we have a good new pet for you,” Logan said. “If you don't find your furry new best friend that first time, keep an eye on our Facebook page, because we have new animals coming in all the time. I would also encourage everyone to keep an eye on the City of Liberal Facebook page about the licensing and registration updates that are going to be implemented. And if anyone has any towels and/or cleaning supplies they'd like to donate, we would love that because we are always in need of those items. We also will accept any and all donations of blankets, we always go through a lot of those in the winter, so people can also bring those with them to the shelter, and we'll also take donations of food and treats and things like that, since it's Christmas.”
