Seasons Greetings from Findafurry

Findafurry supports the slogan:

‘a pet is for life, not just for Christmas’

But we understand that this does not mean that all animals rehomed over the Christmas period will be forgotten about by the New Year.

However, animal rescue centres can easily end up full over the festive season and we need to do what we can to support rehoming over this period.

Therefore, we advise the following:

For non-surprise presents:

No pets should ever be given without the knowledge (and approval) of the person receiving them. (After all, they are the ones who will be cleaning out their cages for the next few years!).
If the pet is for a child, their parents should be happy handling and caring for the animal and be willing to take over its care if the child gets bored or is too busy in the future. Children's lives and interests can change dramatically year to year.
If you don't want the person to have the animal until Christmas day, think carefully about where it will live and who will look after it until then - it should be cared for and played with every day. Speak to the person you are rehoming it from to see if they can help - perhaps you can pick it up on Christmas eve, or Boxing day.

For surprise presents:

Why not give a ‘pet certificate' instead, so the receiver can choose their pet themselves in the new year? We have created some sample voucher templates that you can download
If you want to wrap up something 'real', maybe buy a pet toy or house, which are cheaper and easy to wrap!

If you buy a cage, keep the receipt in case you need to return it should the person decide they don't want a pet. Or, include a photograph of the cage instead of buying it in the first place. There are many online pet shops, so you can even go shopping for the cage on Christmas day (which also has the advantage of not supporting unethical pet-selling businesses and you are likely to get cheaper prices).

We hope this is advice is useful and wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.

If you have animals to rehome, please login as we have more advice in the member's are.

To download one of the vouchers, select from the list below.

Example Voucher (not print quality)