A dog is for life, not just for Christmas

Lots of unwanted dogs turn up at the doorstep of Britain’s biggest dog welfare charity, along with some odd excuses from the people who bring them in.

“Dogs are not fashion accessories or disposable items that can be upgraded or discarded after just a few months. Having a dog is a long-term commitment,” said Dogs Trust chief executive Clarissa Baldwin, who coined the charity’s slogan 30 years ago this year.

Thus, just in time for the festive season, here are the Top Ten dubious and irresponsible reasons its staff has heard over the past year for dumping Fido at one of its shelters:

  1. “My dog doesn’t match the sofa.”
  2. “The dog looks evil and has different coloured eyes, just like David Bowie.”
  3. “My black dog doesn’t match new white carpet, can we swap him for a white dog?”
  4. “My current dog is too old, can we swap for a puppy or younger model?”
  5. “My dog ate the Christmas turkey cooling on the worktop.”
  6. “My pet guinea pig got worried with a dog in the house.”
  7. “The dog opened all the presents on Christmas Eve.”
  8. The owner accidentally knelt in dog wee [piss] while cleaning it up and so brought the dog in the very next day.
  9. The puppy was bought as a present for an elderly couple with dementia.
  10. The owner was paranoid about recent bad press on Staffordshire Bull Terriers, and the dog was given up through no fault of its own.


Christmas Babes

Don’t give a dog, but give your dog a bone.

Credits: Text by AFP, image by original photographer

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.