Of late pet adoption drives are becoming common in many cities. While the idea of adopting a pup is gaining wide acceptance, quite a few people who adopt stray or adult pups are not fully aware of what they are getting into.
Dr Sunilkumar of Felican Pet Hospital,Kochi, says “There are three important things that should be understood before adopting a pup. In most homes with children there is a period when having a pet is something of a ‘fancy’ for them. Kids belonging to both pree-teen and teenage years have a fascination for pets. In such cases, after a while, there is a chance that these kids might lose interest and the pets end up becoming a burden for the parents. There should be an effort to understand if their love for the pet is genuine.”
He points out that dogs put up for adoption should undergo an incubation period at an animal shelter. “These dogs should be given proper vaccination and taken care of for a short period before putting them up for adoption. The reason is there is a high possibility of them being infected with Parvovirus or Canine distemper. These are air borne viral infections. One dog is enough to spread this to the whole lot put for adoption. People have a misconception that just giving the dogs an anti-rabies vaccination would suffice. So before giving them to the public they should be vaccinated and time should be given to the dogs to develop immunity and this will take 10-11 days. De-worming the dog is also ideal before they are given away.
Those organising adoption drives should make an effort to assess those coming forward to adopt dogs.
“Give them a questionnaire and see if they are mentally prepared to look after a dog, if they have the time for it and if they have enough space in the house.”
