When you open your heart and home to a shelter animal during the holiday season you are not only saving a life, you’re also creating a special memory, especially for small children. That’s how Kay Hyman, director of community engagement at the Charleston Animal Society, feels about giving pets as holiday gifts.
“I remember vividly my father surprising my mom with her very first dog,” Hyman said. “We were caring for the puppy in secret and then put him under the tree. That is such a fond memory for me and could very well have contributed to my career path.”
The Homes for the Holidays program gets underway on Dec 16 when people come to the Charleston shelter to choose a pet and a delivery time slot. About two-thirds of the pet gift deliveries are for small children while other pets are typically gifted to a boyfriend or girlfriend or to a spouse.
When it comes to adopting a pet as a gift for someone who doesn’t live in your family, Hyman said you have to make sure that the recipient is willing and able to care for a pet. If for some reason a family can’t take a new pet into the home over the holiday season, she suggests giving a stuffed animal along with an adoption gift certificate.
On delivery days a stream of vehicles driven by volunteer elves leaves the shelter with dogs dressed in holiday bandanas or caps and jackets while cat crates are decorated for the season. The elves, dressed for the part, also take along gift bags or holiday stockings filled with toys and treats for the lucky dogs and cats.
A Charleston Animal Society Elf gets a kiss from a puppy excited to be going home for the holidays/Photo courtesy of the Charleston Animal Society
“When we are delivering pets to small children we tell them that Santa was worried the dogs or cats would be afraid or cold on the sleigh so he was delivering them with the help of elves,” Hyman said.
One of her most memorable deliveries was to an older man who had lost his Labrador three years before and couldn’t bring himself to get another dog. His wife visited the shelter and saw an older female Labrador that she knew would be a perfect match for her husband.
“We drove way out into the country to make that delivery,” Hyman said. “As soon as the husband opened the door and saw the dog he started to cry. This man just needed someone to give him the gift of a dog so that he could open his heart again.”
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