Dogs Trust is urging people not to buy a dog as a present this Christmas with their new festive advert.
As Black Friday – one of the busiest shopping days of the year – arrives, one charity is bucking the trend and asking people not to buy something very particular this Christmas.
Dog Trust, the charity behind the famous ‘A dog is for life, not just for Christmas’ slogan, has launched a Christmas ad with a difference, landing the very important message that ‘dogs aren’t Christmas presents’, with a funny new ad.
The film has been spurred by the fact that every year the charity takes in dogs who were unwanted Christmas presents. Last year alone, Dogs Trust Snetterton had nearly 200 calls from people wanting to handover their dogs from Christmas Day through to the end of March.
Many of those dogs were Christmas presents that hadn’t lived up to expectations or given up once their owners realised the responsibilities of dog ownership.
In the comical advert we see actors treating Christmas presents like dogs – taking a games console for a walk, throwing a ball for a hairdryer, trying to get a drone to sit and saying goodnight to a bottle of perfume.
The scene then switched to a woman trying to wrap a dog as a present before TV presenter Mel Giedroyc explains in a voiceover that ‘Christmas presents aren’t dogs! and dogs aren’t Christmas presents. A dog is for life, not just for Christmas.’
Mel, who has her own rescue dog, June, says: “It’s bonkers that people are still buying dogs as Christmas presents. I hope this ad helps people realise the craziness of giving a bouncing, playful, pooing puppy as a present. Getting a dog needs to be a much-pondered decision. They’re gorgeous and loveable, but bloody hard work. Remember ‘a dog is for life, not just for Christmas.’”
Diane McLelland-Taylor, Rehoming Centre Manager at Dogs Trust Snetterton, said: “Every year – even on Christmas Day itself – we have dogs brought to us from people who have received them as presents and don’t want them. Once the initial Christmas sparkle has worn off and people realise the huge commitment it takes to own a dog, they come into our care. It’s heart-breaking for us to see when it could so easily have been prevented.”
The Christmas ad will be shown in cinemas around the country and online from today (23 November). The charity is urging people to share the film online and help to spread the word.
