50 • The Sunday Times Magazine
The case for getting
a second-hand dog
Lockdown pets are being cast aside. Now is not the time to buy “new”
I
t seems rather fitting that for
this month’s column I bring you
a message about recycling. It is,
after all, a message for our times
— something we reflect upon
almost every day as we stand,
confused, at a three-mouthed
bin holding an item fashioned
from both plastic and cardboard
before giving up, selecting
“general waste” and feeling
deeply ashamed.
Yet I can offer a simple
instruction of waste avoidancethat might fill you with a glow of
satisfaction, and one that all of us
can do — or at least those of us
contemplating getting another dog.
Rescue.
It has never been so necessary.
We all know that during these
testing days people have turned
to dogs in the hope that they
might cheer us up — thousands
of cavapoos asked to perform
the same role as Netflix. Many
people have become owners for
the first time and while most
have persevered, plenty of small
companions have been cast aside,
left wondering why they have
been made redundant but perhaps
regretting that minor incident
on the carpet.
So if you would like a dog there
are plenty available in the canine
thrift shops. The shelves overflow
with those hoping for selection:
second-hand, barely used, oneprevious owner. The solution
to waste seems clear.
But of course, it isn’t. People
often want new. They feel the very
beginning is a very good place to
start, even though a puppy’s
wanton ways, involving endless
chewing of house and exposed
digits, may be a prime cause of
abandonment. Or they might be
fearful of landing a troubled dog.
And yes, there’s no doubt that
hand-me-downs can come with
baggage beyond a suitcase
containing a squeaky toy. My
mother has long tended to fill her
house with waifs and strays to the
extent that she has seemed to be
forming a gang of furry Victorian
pickpockets. And most of them
have had issues.
There was Ben, who was terrified
of almost everything and, with
DNA containing trace elements
of greyhound and collie, whenA dog’s life
Andrew Cotter