Family Pets Being Abandoned as a Result of Foreclosures

Posted on April 22nd, 2008 by saman

With foreclosures continuing, families are being forced to give up their homes but their cherished pets as well. Authorities in animal welfare are seeing an increase in pets being abandoned or surrendered. Donations to shelters are drying up as well and adoptions are declining because the poor economy is putting more homeowners in difficult situations.

The co-owner of For Paws Rescue has seen many pets come in during the last six to eight weeks. The group as collected various pets recently including a Yorkie, two abandoned pugs and some purebreds. There are many owner turn-ins as well because owners are becoming financially unable to care for them.

Animal-welfare groups have been taking on greater burdens at a time when it is said that consumers are spending more money on their pets. Pet owners will most likely shell out over forty three billion dollars on their pets this year according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.

A thirty three year old single mom had to give up her pit bull this week after she was kicked out of her apartment. The older man she was cohabitating with and taking care of got ill and had to go and live with his family. This left her unable to pay her rent. Her son is temporarily living with his paternal grandmother until his mom can find a new place to live and another job. Her cousin was willing to take her in but would not take in her dog. The mother was heartbroken because she got her dog when it was only three weeks old. She says that the dog is very gentle but it is difficult to find a place that will take a pit bull.

This mother’s problem is an example of the hard choices that have to be made by those who were hit hard financially during this current economic crisis.

Betsy Saul, the creator of Petfinder.com says that it is a combination of terrible factors. First, a person has financial problems and need to figure out a way to pay their bills. Then the person loses their home. After that, the consequences of the financial problems have them giving up a member of your family.

Saul is concerned about the situation that she sees is out of control. She says that pets are very important, especially during hard times. Socially, it is a concern. Saul is keeping track of how the poor U.S. economy is impacting pets. Saul has recently done a survey of animal shelters in states with large city areas. Six out of ten shelters that were surveyed across the nation have reported a decrease in adoptions. In the state of Georgia, there has been a sixty-six percent drop in adoptions. Shelters have noted an increase.

Foreclosures are only part of Georgia’s economic problems. The high cost of gas and the credit problem have forced many employers to cut jobs and have increased the unemployment rate of the state. It is currently much higher than the national average.

These things have added to the problem on pet abandonments according to a sample of various rescue groups, pet stores, animal shelters and rescue groups. An example of this is when employees at the Atlanta Humane Society came to work one morning and discovered a dog shackled to the fence of the property. A few days earlier, someone left a pet at the society in a box.

A major concern is whereas there would be one case of pet abandonment a month; there are now abandonment cases weekly. Shelters are having trouble keeping up with them. Pet adoptions are also down nationwide.