Abandoned pets overwhelm Metro Detroit shelters

[Bozita]

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090418/METRO/904180365/Abandoned+pets+overwhelm+Metro+Detroit+shelters

Saturday, April 18, 2009
Abandoned pets overwhelm Metro Detroit shelters
Animals increasingly abandoned as owners lose jobs, face foreclosure
Kimberly Hayes Taylor / The Detroit News


Behind boarded doors of foreclosed homes, in Dumpsters and in parking lots are an unprecedented number of abandoned dogs and cats. Their owners, desperate and broke, have left the animals to die without food or water. Real estate agents and landlords are finding the once-beloved family pets in vacated houses all over Metro Detroit.

Meanwhile, more people who take their animals to shelters are telling workers they have lost their jobs and can't afford to take care of their pets, or aren't allowed to take them to the apartment they've leased after losing their house.

The crisis isn't just happening in Michigan, which has the nation's highest unemployment rate. Abandoned pets have become a national issue.

"This has really become an epidemic," said Allie Phillips, director of public policy at the American Humane Association, from her office in Alexandra, Va. She estimates that because about 8,000 houses go into foreclosure each day, 15,000 to 26,000 more animals are in danger of losing their homes daily. Many of them, she said, will ultimately be euthanized.

Abandoned and surrendered animals are nothing new to people who work in animal shelters. It's just that workers at Metro Detroit's shelters say they have never seen so many coming through the doors all at once. On top of that, fewer people are adopting pets, shelters report. As a result, most Metro Detroit animal shelters report being at, near or beyond capacity.

And though some believe people are using "foreclosure pets" as a way of surrendering animals without being judged, new initiatives are springing up everywhere to help, including providing pet food to keep seniors from sharing their own food with pets.

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[Lorien]

1. It's certainly true down here in Central Florida too

If you have room in your home for one more pet, now is the time to adopt! If you have ever toyed with the idea of becoming a foster, then this is also the time to start. Pets give so much more to us than we can give to them, and they are one of the biggest stress and loneliness busters available!

[kestrel91316]

2. I am noticing among my clients who still have homes and jobs,

a tendency to downscale their cat ownership: they aren't spending as much on medical care while they are alive, and aren't as eager to replace them. Especially the homes with several cats (over 3).

[jwirr]

3. Not just in cities like Detroit. Our small NE MN community does not

have room in the shelters any more. They are refusing to take animals unless they have room. And few are looking to adopt.

[exboyfil]

4. We have two cats and two dogs

Both dogs are from the shelter and one cat is from the shelter. Our other cat was a foundling that I found walking on the road as a kitten. No way I can afford another pet when you consider vet bills. I easily spend more on vet bills (mostly just maintenance stuff like exams, tests, and immunizations) than I do on our health care (excluding my daughter's braces).

Our foundling cat is 15, and we will not replace her when she is gone because of the expense.

[northernlights]

5. I recently pulled a pup

he was about to be gassed in Georgia. There were 8 on the critical list -- I would have taken all of them if I could. How the eff do you choose who lives and who dies? When I look at him, I still see his siblings and the other beautiful faces from the pictures and wonder what became of them. :cry: I can't afford it, but didn't realize at the time just how bad things would get for us.

In the meantime, I've cut back on health care for all my critters. I do all vax myself except rabies, and I'm looking into getting heartworm meds from Canada, where a prescription is not required.

My 4 year old pup, who came from death row in Arkansas, has hip dysplasia, which got much worse when the above pup jumped on him and he fell on the ice with back legs going east/west back in February. I'm trying to squeak by for now with rest, aspirin and sea jerky, and chiropractic every few weeks when his hips get so out of alignment that everything becomes too hard for him. As soon as I sell my house, I'll take him to the hospital for a workup and possible surgery.

But I'd live in my car (well I'd trade it in for something bigger so I could lie down first) before I'd surrender the pups.