Game of Thrones fans are notoriously passionate about their favorite show. But fandom can have a dark side. According to the UK’s Independent, Game of Thrones fans in the UK are continuing to abandon recently adopted “direwolves” purchased for the Christmas season after they come to grips with the realities of raising one. Come on, people.
The direwoves on Game of Thrones, which are based on a real-world (extinct) animal called a dire wolf, have been part of the series since its premiere episode. And although they have made sporadic appearances since, fan interest has remained high.
And therein lies the problem. In the early seasons of the show, the production used Northern Inuit dogs to stand in for the direwolves. (Nowadays they use actual wolves augmented with CGI to look huge.) The Northern Inuit dog is a rare breed, but similar-looking breeds such as the husky or malamute are more readily available. Both breeds have traits that make them unfit for city living: they need large amounts of exercise and hate being left alone for long periods of time. But that hasn’t stopped at least some people from seeing them on TV and adopting them without full knowledge of what they’re getting themselves into.
People get in over their heads with dogs without help from TV, but Game of Thrones has definitely had an impact on adoption rates. The Independent cites numbers from the UK’s Battersea Dogs and Cats Home. In 2010, right before Thrones came on the air, 53 huskies and malamutes came through the doors. By 2013, after the show caught on, that number had doubled to 116.
In 2017, only 74 huskies and malamutes have been brought to the shelter, which it believes is the result of education efforts to get people to think hard before they adopt one, and to definitely not get one as a Christmas gift. Ned Stark would surely not approve of such frivolous pet ownership.
Hopefully the numbers continue to dip.
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