well gifting a new puppy or kitten may have seemed like a good idea during the holidays but animal shelters say owners are practically knocking down their doors with pet gift returns in the months since Christmas that's because the excitement and Novelty wears off and the responsibility of caring for an animal kicks in Ted Goldberg has the story from a shelter in Bergen County where dozens of pets have been surrendered in just the last few weeks At the Bergen County Animal Shelter nacho isn't expected to stick around too long he's great with he seems to be okay with cats um he's a great family dog he's a lot of fun he's get good with kids but it's gotten a little more difficult to line up a home for this Jack Russell wire hair terrier mix this shelter has taken in 25 dogs since Christmas and shelter manager Bob bergamini says many of them were initially given as gifts we do get a lot of returns for people uh who give out pets for Christmas I think people don't realize what they're getting into sometimes the work or they don't do um they they don't do enough um um studying on the breeds and they don't realize what you know certain breeds entail or if their children are are allergic or someone in the family is allergic get a lot of buyers remorse over the holidays people get pets don't realize what the responsibility is to have a pet it's almost like having a child an infant child you have to feed them you have to clean up after them Bergen County Commissioner Steven Tanelli says post Christmas surrenders have been an annual issue since he took office more than a decade ago for 12 years it's it happens so this this year seems to be we seem to really get in inundated the shelter has 60 dogs Bergamini says they could take on more small dogs like nacho but there's not much room left for big dogs like bamboo the Husky he's typical Husky breed so the they can be a little more difficult um he would require somebody with Husky experience he's a little mouthy little stubborn um it's full of energy he's a working dog sheds a lot um and huskys are escape artist sit sit you know it bamboo is one of the longest tenured residents here spending the last year and a half in the shelter he needs a lot of land to burn off that husky energy bamboo is one of 30 dogs you can adopt from this shelter they're up to date with vaccinations and they're all spayed or neutered um before they're adopted we also do evaluate all the dogs so if there are any behavioral issues um we'll address those as well one thing you can guarantee is they really do their due diligence to make sure that uh when your pet is adopted here from here you have all the tools you need to be a successful pet owner and they make sure they try and pair up uh pet owners with the proper pets if cats are more your thing don't worry there are plenty here the shelter has lots of furry friends to share it's thrilling to see families the smiles on the children's face when they leave with the dog um so these stories really really help set they just ask that if you want to adopt a furry companion do your research know if family members have allergies and don't make pets a surprise gift.

In Teterboro, I'm Ted Goldberg NJ Spotlight news [Music]