Animals Matter: Please don't give pets as surprise gifts
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Unless you have the recipient’s buy-in about a Christmas pet and they know what to expect in terms of care costs, please think of another gift.kajakiki /Getty Images
While I normally don’t mind if people give pets as gifts if they are parents giving to children or adult children giving to parents or spouses or partners giving to each other (or some other mutually consenting relationship), I often caution against people giving pets as gifts in general.
Unless you know someone really well and discussed the potential gift idea in advance, not everyone is ready for the surprise or the financial obligation that comes with having a pet. That gift might even be less welcome during the pandemic.