Parents who give up parenthood to party.
Never give a puppy as a Christmas present: That advice is a firm favourite with animal welfare organisations. Too often, they see families who haven’t prepared themselves for the responsibilities of looking after a demanding new pet abandoning their animals over the festive season. Now it appears that small children are also being dumped as the festive season approaches.
Shelters in three major cities across South Africa are clamping down on party parents who leave their children with them during December, and then expect to collect them in January, once the parties have stopped, according to News24.
Adoption threat
The shelters are tired of playing nanny to children whose mothers are off partying, and have issued stern warnings. Door of Hope manager, Francina Mphago, said: “We are here to help desperate mothers who do not want to be parents or cannot take care of their babies. [We do not help] people who just want to have fun for a certain period without worrying about a child at home
The centre has said that babies left just for the holidays will be put up for adoption.
Parenting trumps partying
Too harsh? Well, the warning is designed to shock these party-parents into realising that they have responsibilities which don’t end once the music gets turned up and the booze is flowing. Naturally, these parents will have to seek some other form of care for their children rather than “free” care at a shelter.
The danger is that these children may be dragged along to raucous raves with sozzled adults, and that they could be exposed to all sorts of danger without proper protection. In addition, babies are frequently abandoned in dangerous places (such as open fields) instead of being dropped off at shelters.
What do you think? Should these shelters take in the kids of party parents?
By: Scott Dunlop