Just as Christmas inevitably comes towards us each year, there are things about the festive season and present-giving that never change. One is the issue of pets as gifts. It must be the brave soul who goes out with a genuine and considered commitment to buy a pet at this time of year, so biased can the attitude be to those who buy puppies and kittens as presents, however. It is unquestionable that many Christmas pets get abandoned once the realisation of the responsibilities attached to keeping them kicks in.

Someone whose short life focused on animal aid and rescue was Tara Campbell (24), who suffered a number of illnesses before dying of a brain tumour earlier this year. Her regular distractions from the round of hospital treatments as a child were the family dogs and her horse. Many ill children find solace in caring for a pet, to which they do not have to explain their illness, and which does not discriminate towards them because of that illness.

According to her family, Tara had special abilities in handling animals, and when she was well, she worked for a time in a vet's surgery. She was not, they noted, very fond of flowers. Yet flowers arrived in their scores through the three months of what proved to be her final stay in hospital. As a result, on her death, the Campbell family requested that, rather than flowers, donations be sent as a mark of respect to a voluntary organisation, Clondalkin Animal Aid.

The group, with four core members, has the following aims to rescue abandoned and stray dogs and pups, to promote animal welfare through aid and education and to alert the public to the importance of having animals vaccinated. The organisation does not have a shelter; dogs are initially minded at volunteers' houses until new owners or foster homes can be found for them.

The donations received by Clondalkin Animal Aid after Tara Campbell's death have been used to fund its website, which is dedicated to her memory. There is a short biography, written by her mother, Chris Campbell, and some pictures of Tara. The site's home page contains an explanation of its history, with details of how the organisation is funded, contact numbers, aims and guidelines indicating how members of the public can help. It is likely to be busy this Christmas - unless people think more carefully before giving animals as presents.

www.clondalkinanimalaid.com