The woman in charge at the Heaven Can Wait animal shelter has a message for people during the Christmas season.

Kim Hessel says don't give pets as a gift.

"I've never been a big fan of that," she says. "And it's not for any other reason than I don't want people to be spontaneous. I mean a pet is a many, many year commitment and I think that if the family decides as a family and is thinking about this and it's the right time, that's one thing. If you just run into a pet store and go 'Oh my God that's cute', that's not what I think is a smart thing to do."

She suggests waiting until the craziness of the holidays is over and then sit down as a family and decide what you want and look at what's out there, especially in the rescue community.

Hessel also says it's important to pet proof the house around the holidays.

"Christmas trees, poinsettias come to mind, anything in the Lilly family you have to be especially careful with cats and dogs for some of those plants that are common at this time of year," Hessel says. "Even things that people don't realize, like antifreeze dripping out of your car, that's a bad poison and sometimes animals will walk through that if we don't clean it up properly."

She says also watch for things like tinsel and Christmas light electrical cords.