Pets not always ideal Valentine's Day gift

NEW YORK, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- Pet store operators and humane society workers in New York both say giving pets as a gift on Valentine's Day is not always the right call.

The New York Daily News said Saturday Puppy Paradise store manager Mike Rubin recalled one instance in which a customer at his New York store made the ill-advised decision to purchase a puppy for his love interest.

"One gentleman last year got a very nice little puppy and the girl freaked out. They were not that close to each other," Rubin said. "He was trying to get, how do I say this, an extra score, and she was not into the whole thing."

When pet gifts for Valentine's Day go wrong, those animals can end up with the Humane Society of New York.

"Sometimes it's right away. They'll say, 'I can't take the responsibility.' A lot of times it's a large-breed dog that starts as a small puppy, but when the dog is bigger it requires a lot of exercise and attention that the person can't give the animal," Humane Society of New York co-executive Sandra DeFeo told the Daily News.