Giving or getting a pet for the holidays? It takes some planning …

Some of us include dogs or cats on our holiday gift lists. The head of the Monmouth County SPCA says that's okay as long as you appreciate the serious commitment involved.

Ross Licitra, executive director of the Monmouth County SPCA, said the group encourages adoptions all year long, and carefully scrutinizes every prospective adopter or family to make sure the pet adoption is a "good fit." But, he also cautions, "a lot of times, people do not really think about the consequences when it comes to owning an animal."

Licitra said owning an animal is at least a 10- to 12-year commitment in a normal healthy lifespan of an animal, "and of course, it becomes one of your family members." He said the SPCA goes over each and every situation individually once someone comes into the shelter to make certain that the client is a suitable fit for the animal he or she is looking for.

Licitra said if the dog or cat is to be a family pet, make sure it is okay with everyone in the family — including husbands, wives, partners and children.

"It is just not like buying an inanimate object off of a shelf that you can just return two weeks later," he said.

And he said as part of that careful consideration,  the proverbial surprise on Christmas morning may not always be best. Instead, consider telling your children or your loved ones that you intend to give a pet as a gift, and would love to do it for Christmas — whether it arrives on Christmas or not. Licitra said to let everyone else have input when it comes to that — which animal they would like and to take into their homes.

He said Christmas is certainly a wonderful time to give or receive a pet if the animal is getting a good and loving long-term home.

"If we have people that come in and have really thought this out and go through the vetting process, and we feel that they are a wonderful match, then of course, Christmas is a wonderful time to give an animal to someone as a little bit of extra love and everything else that goes with it," he said.

Licitra said the SPCA has not seen an increase of returned dogs or cats after the holidays, because it does a fairly good background check, to make certain that when it does adopt animals out, they go to the right homes.

Joe Cutter is the afternoon news anchor on New Jersey 101.5.

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