First unwanted Christmas 'present' arrives at RSPCA

22 December 2008

Meet Buddy, the eight-week-old border-cross puppy who arrived at the RSPCA on Friday, the Society's first unwanted puppy this Christmas.

Thankfully this beautiful dog went to a family who immediately realised they were in no position to commit the next 17-20 years to Buddy and immediately contacted the RSPCA.

"We sincerely hope this story serves as a strong reminder to those people planning on giving a pet as a Christmas present to cancel those plans. Giving an animal as a present to someone who is not prepared for it can be a disaster," said Richard Barry, spokesperson for the RSPCA in WA.

"The good news is the family who received Buddy were responsible enough to bring him to us rather than dumping him somewhere," said Barry. "You might be thinking 'nobody would dump something as cute as this' but believe me, it happens and all too often."

Buddy was also too young to be adopted as he has only had his first vaccination injections and had not been desexed, dewormed or treated for parasites when he arrived at the RSPCA last week. "We've taken care of all those issues but even at eight-weeks-old risks were being taken that would never had occurred if he hadn't been given as a present."

Mr Barry also reminded people that if they do receive an unwanted pet at Christmas not to abandon or dump them, which is an offence. "Contact us here at the RSPCA and we will do our utmost to re-home them but certainly don't dump them as that is against the law and we will not hesitate to prosecute anyone who puts the life of an animal at risk under those circumstances."