No doubt HBO's "Game of Thrones" is one of the biggest shows on television, if not the most-watched series. Its popularity, however, is causing a worrying trend among dog owners.
A shelter operator based at the Northern California Sled Dog Rescue expressed concerns about the increasing number of Siberian Huskies that "Game of Thrones" fans adopt because the dogs look like the mythical dire wolves on the show.
They've become the pets and the protector of the Stark children, who are the leading characters in the series.
Only, these dog owners later abandon the Huskies they have adopted after realizing that caring for the dogs takes a lot of effort. The trend is not just happening in the U.S. but also in the U.K.
700 percent spike
Angelique Miller of the shelter said via San Francisco Gate that they have indeed noticed a spike in adoption for dogs that look like direwolves, such as the Huskies, or Samoyed, or the Alaskan Malamute. The interest from the public started three years ago at adoption fairs, where Miller and other rescuers usually encounter "Game of Thrones" fans who ask about these type of dogs.
"They watch these shows and think how cool these dogs are," Miller said. "They're just following the trend of what they think is cute."
Randee McQueen from the Bay Area Siberian Husky Club also told the news outlet that some abandoned dogs had names like Lady, Ghost, and Nymeria. These are the very names of the creatures from “Game of Thrones.”
An animal charity house in Britain, on the other hand, confirmed via Independent that there was a 700 percent of Husky abandonment across the U.K. Plenty of dog owners give up on them because the breed is actually quite high maintenance.
Caring for wolf-like dogs
Huskies, Samoyed, Alaskan Malamute and other wolf-like dogs need constant and regular exercise because these are working dogs.
As such, they need to spend their energy daily for mental and physical stimulation and not be cooped at home. Otherwise, they will act out and misbehave. One Husky dog owner told Kron4 that she started to walking 10 miles daily with her pet just to meet the exercise the dog required.
Some of these breeds are not barkers, but they tend to howl a lot. Huskies, for instance, do "talk," which might be a problem for those living in apartments as neighbors could complain.
Rescuers stated average dog owners wouldn't usually be patient with the needs of these breeds. They advised potential Husky, Samoyed and Alaskan Malamute owners and "Game of Thrones" fans to consider many times over before adopting such type of dogs.