The Holidays are about family, life, love and giving. Give an animal a home.

Life is busy. We get it. No one has enough time.  And when you add in the stress of the holidays your life becomes chaotic and filled with activities that you didn’t have time for to begin with.  So why would anyone want to throw a new pet in the mix?  Read on and I will explain why it makes perfect sense to add a pet as a new family member during this time of year.  

Home 4 the Holidays is a national promotion that many humane organizations participate in. This will be our fourth year doing it in Lynchburg and this year we are going all out. We want to find homes for all the pets before the end of the year.  We want empty cages. We want pets that are alone day in and day out to know what it means to have a warm loving home where they get the attention they need.  Everyone deserves a family during the holiday season.  That is why we are having three major adoption events where all the pets are only $30. If you don’t think you are ready to adopt at this time you can always foster a pet over the holidays.  

Please give this some thought.  One of the best gifts I have ever received, was a dog back when I was only 7 years old.  My dad came home with a beautiful Brittney Spaniel that I immediately fell in love with and I deemed her my dog.  Ok, so I just thought it was my dog alone, because she loved me the best.  No, she really did.  

The gift of companionship and love is a gift your child or family member will always remember.  Plus, by adopting a pet you receive the gift of knowing you helped that poor animal find a loving home. 

Even though you are crazy busy during the holidays, you usually have more time off from work around that time.  You are at home, off work and you have more time to spend with a pet to help it acclimate to your home and its new environment.  

What I love is that you can use the new pet as a reason why you didn’t have time to “clean” the house as well as you would like so your friends and family will not judge you. How could they when the cute little kitten comes up and asks for attention or the beagle jumps in their lap?  Who would even look at the house with that cuteness going on? 

Adopting a dog usually means you have a friend to walk with in your neighborhood.  Those extra pounds you put on might be fewer this year because you are walking more.

A dog is also a great security system to warn you of those unwanted guests.

Or, even better, if you don’t want to visit those relatives this year use a shelter pet as the reason you can’t leave your home. 

One of the best reasons I have heard is, you then have a dog or cat to dress up as Santa or a Reindeer.  Wouldn’t that be a great photo for a Christmas card?

I know this, my kids will never know what it is like NOT to have a pet, at least in my home.  Ok, mainly because I am the Executive Director of the Lynchburg Humane Society but studies show that kids with pets tend to be healthier both medically and behaviorally. Pets help improve a child’s self-esteem and help build defenses against, believe it or not, allergies and other germs.  By reading to our dog my son gains more confidence to read out loud in his class.  My son always has a friend even when his two legged friends can’t play. 

The last thought I will leave you with is that these are not all lost, unwanted or stray animals that everyone thinks have behavior issues.  Last November a woman surrendered her three dogs to us.  She didn’t want to and she stayed over an hour to make sure we knew all about their little routines and how they like things.  She cried because she was losing her family.  This woman gave us three beautiful dogs because she was diagnosed with a disease that forced her into an assisted living situation.  These dogs only knew one owner and now needed a new family.  Every one of them found homes during our Home 4 the Holidays promotions.  This made her holiday a happier one, along with the families who adopted these poor dogs who just wanted to be loved. 

We know you are busy and all we are asking is for you to stop and think about what the holiday season is all about:  Family, love, giving and life.  There is no better gift to a pet than a family.  Being alone in a shelter at night or day after day and not getting human companionship is heartbreaking for these loving pets.  Help us by helping them find homes for the holidays.  Foster or adopt a shelter pet and bring them Home 4 the Holidays.