Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Pets as Presents
Aired December 26, 2003 - 08:53 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Maybe it was not on your wishlist, but someone decided a dog or cat would be just the right gift for you. Sure, they're cute and they're cuddly, but you can't return them. So what can new pet owners do about your newfound responsibilities? Wendy Simon is the founder and editorial director of "Animal Fair" magazine. She's got lots of advice, and she joins us with Lucky.
Hello, Lucky. You're so cute.
WENDY SIMON, "ANIMAL FAIR" MAGAZINE: Oh, she's adorable.
O'BRIEN: And I love her outfit. I believe that's Polo, Ralph Lauren?
SIMON: She had to wear this today. She was very excited.
O'BRIEN: That's very adorable. Tell me something, how many people get pets as gifts?
SIMON: I think now, a lot of people are wisening up about what's happening when people get pets for holiday gifts. I mean, what's important to know is who you're giving the gift to. It's a big responsibility. It's like having a child. They eat, need to be washed.
O'BRIEN: They don't grow up, go to college and leave.
SIMON: Yes, they never can take care of themselves. You're really responsible for them the whole duration of their lives.
O'BRIEN: Nowadays, I know people tend to buy a pet for the family as opposed to giving someone an unsolicited or unwanted cat or dog? But have you seen situations? Obviously, you know this business well. Have you seen a situation where someone got a gift of a pet and they did not want it?
SIMON: Well, there's a lot of times people give them as a gift, and they don't realize their lifestyle. Some dogs and cats are a lot more active. Like Lucky, she can come to work with me and sits on my lap. But then there's like big dogs that need to go out an be walked. And what happens is they don't know what to do with them. And a lot of times you'll see in the shelters, around this time, they get so many more animals coming into to these shelters? And you can literally get any kind of dog or cat you want at these shelters. Like if you go to petfinder.com, and you look up and you say, I want a maltese, there are thousands of malteses on this Web site from people that just don't realize that these are active animals and they have a lot of energy and they run around.
O'BRIEN: It's very sad, isn't it?
SIMON: Yes.
O'BRIEN: If you bought a pet because you really want your kids to learn a little bit about responsibility.
And no, girls, you're not getting one this year, and probably not next year either.
Give me the best way to get a relatively small child to have responsibility, which obviously, they're not old enough to actually take care of the animal.
SIMON: Well, there's a lot of dogs that are better to have than other ones for small children. For instance, you know, labs and retrievers are really gentle animals, and they -- you know, kids can play with them. You know, like a little dog kind of -- sometimes they might bite, they're get scared. These are five pound dogs. They're not really used to big people.
O'BRIEN: Little kids can fill up the water at home and do the feeding, but shouldn't really be overall responsible for the welfare of the animal kind of the big picture, right?
SIMON: Oh, absolutely. It's a live animal. It has to eat. It has to get played with. And It also has to go to the vet once a year, make sure that it's OK. The teeth have too be cleaned. There's lot of things that people don't realize that are involved with having an animal.
O'BRIEN: It is a huge responsibility. I know the way we used to welcome new pets, like, when we got a new dog, put a clock by its bed, is that still the rule?
SIMON: No.
O'BRIEN: They would listen to the tick-tock and not be afraid.
SIMON: I never heard that.
O'BRIEN: Come on, back me up. Didn't you guys ever do this?
SIMON: Now, when people...
O'BRIEN: The little puppy.
SIMON: Forget it, the puppies now are in the bed with you.
O'BRIEN: The puppies are now in bed with you. This is so funny.
SIMON: No, they are actually. They're not in the doghouse or the yard anymore, they have their own bed next to yours.
O'BRIEN: Hey, you know why I know that. Your dog is wearing Polo Ralph Lauren this morning. It's nice to have you.
Lucky, it's nice to have you, too.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 26, 2003 - 08:53 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Maybe it was not on your wishlist, but someone decided a dog or cat would be just the right gift for you. Sure, they're cute and they're cuddly, but you can't return them. So what can new pet owners do about your newfound responsibilities? Wendy Simon is the founder and editorial director of "Animal Fair" magazine. She's got lots of advice, and she joins us with Lucky.
Hello, Lucky. You're so cute.
WENDY SIMON, "ANIMAL FAIR" MAGAZINE: Oh, she's adorable.
O'BRIEN: And I love her outfit. I believe that's Polo, Ralph Lauren?
SIMON: She had to wear this today. She was very excited.
O'BRIEN: That's very adorable. Tell me something, how many people get pets as gifts?
SIMON: I think now, a lot of people are wisening up about what's happening when people get pets for holiday gifts. I mean, what's important to know is who you're giving the gift to. It's a big responsibility. It's like having a child. They eat, need to be washed.
O'BRIEN: They don't grow up, go to college and leave.
SIMON: Yes, they never can take care of themselves. You're really responsible for them the whole duration of their lives.
O'BRIEN: Nowadays, I know people tend to buy a pet for the family as opposed to giving someone an unsolicited or unwanted cat or dog? But have you seen situations? Obviously, you know this business well. Have you seen a situation where someone got a gift of a pet and they did not want it?
SIMON: Well, there's a lot of times people give them as a gift, and they don't realize their lifestyle. Some dogs and cats are a lot more active. Like Lucky, she can come to work with me and sits on my lap. But then there's like big dogs that need to go out an be walked. And what happens is they don't know what to do with them. And a lot of times you'll see in the shelters, around this time, they get so many more animals coming into to these shelters? And you can literally get any kind of dog or cat you want at these shelters. Like if you go to petfinder.com, and you look up and you say, I want a maltese, there are thousands of malteses on this Web site from people that just don't realize that these are active animals and they have a lot of energy and they run around.
O'BRIEN: It's very sad, isn't it?
SIMON: Yes.
O'BRIEN: If you bought a pet because you really want your kids to learn a little bit about responsibility.
And no, girls, you're not getting one this year, and probably not next year either.
Give me the best way to get a relatively small child to have responsibility, which obviously, they're not old enough to actually take care of the animal.
SIMON: Well, there's a lot of dogs that are better to have than other ones for small children. For instance, you know, labs and retrievers are really gentle animals, and they -- you know, kids can play with them. You know, like a little dog kind of -- sometimes they might bite, they're get scared. These are five pound dogs. They're not really used to big people.
O'BRIEN: Little kids can fill up the water at home and do the feeding, but shouldn't really be overall responsible for the welfare of the animal kind of the big picture, right?
SIMON: Oh, absolutely. It's a live animal. It has to eat. It has to get played with. And It also has to go to the vet once a year, make sure that it's OK. The teeth have too be cleaned. There's lot of things that people don't realize that are involved with having an animal.
O'BRIEN: It is a huge responsibility. I know the way we used to welcome new pets, like, when we got a new dog, put a clock by its bed, is that still the rule?
SIMON: No.
O'BRIEN: They would listen to the tick-tock and not be afraid.
SIMON: I never heard that.
O'BRIEN: Come on, back me up. Didn't you guys ever do this?
SIMON: Now, when people...
O'BRIEN: The little puppy.
SIMON: Forget it, the puppies now are in the bed with you.
O'BRIEN: The puppies are now in bed with you. This is so funny.
SIMON: No, they are actually. They're not in the doghouse or the yard anymore, they have their own bed next to yours.
O'BRIEN: Hey, you know why I know that. Your dog is wearing Polo Ralph Lauren this morning. It's nice to have you.
Lucky, it's nice to have you, too.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
