Certificate Lets Gift Recipient Pick a Pet

If you’re thinking of getting someone a pet as a holiday gift, think again, say officials with the city of Los Angeles Animal Services.

They instead recommend a pet gift certificate that can go toward adopting an animal after the holidays.

That way the person can choose the pet most compatible with his or her lifestyle, Animal Services officials say.

“A lot of people get pets for Christmas and it’s the wrong pet, so they end up at the animal shelter,” said Animal Services spokeswoman Jackie David. “It can be something as simple as size, or does the person have enough time to care for the animal.”

David said Animal Services doesn’t keep specific figures, but every year around the holidays there’s an increase in the number of animals--especially dogs--brought to the city’s six animal shelters.

“People come in and say, ‘I don’t know what to do with it,’ ” David said. “In a lot of cases it was a little puppy in a stocking that was so cute, but it became a very large animal in a few months.”

David added that many of the dogs also end up on the streets, contributing to the city’s already high number of strays.

Pet gift certificates can be purchased at any of the six city animal shelters, including two in the San Fernando Valley, one at 13131 Sherman Way in North Hollywood, the other at 20655 Plummer St. in Chatsworth. For more information, call (888) 452-7381.