Please don’t give pets as Christmas gifts.

That’s the message that employees at the Lawrence Humane Society, 1805 E. 19th St., stress during each holiday season.

But, inevitably, some people choose to do exactly that. And then about a month after Christmas right about now the shelter receives a wave of unwanted pets.

“What happens with kids is the novelty has worn off. Maybe they’re unprepared for a pet,” said Midge Grinstead, executive director of the shelter. “A lot of parents cater to their children’s whims a little bit, and where animals are concerned, it just can’t be that way.”

In the first three weeks of January, the humane society took in many animals that according to those who dropped them off had been received as Christmas gifts.

Among the animals were several puppies and kittens. But the majority of them were hand-held pets, such as rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs, rats, hamsters and cockatiel birds.

“People try (pet ownership) out for a month or so, and they bring them in,” Grinstead said. “It’s kind of a Catch-22 situation. We’re absolutely happy they brought them in and didn’t just dump them. On the flip side, we’re really full.”

The animals who were given as Christmas presents and later dropped off at the shelter had not originally come from the humane society but from pet stores and other sources.

“We’re actually very careful about (adopting out) animals as gifts. They are living beings, not toys,” Grinstead said.

Right now the shelter’s room for hand-held pets is full. Among the inhabitants are 14 rabbits, an unusually high number for this time of year.

Because of lack of space, seven cockatiels brought in after Christmas had to stay briefly in the humane society’s conference room. They were all eventually adopted.

In January, the shelter took in the highest number of cats it had ever received for that month: 150.

Grinstead hopes people will heed her advice about giving pets as Christmas gifts.

“Before you get a pet, make sure you think about it and talk about it first,” Grinstead said. “If we treat these little animals like items we can just buy off the shelf, then what are we teaching our children?”