Is it just Miami?

[kermit]

I hope this is just a local problem but still upsetting to me. I look in the paper and I know the economy is bad but people are giving their pets away like used furniture. Free to good home, with a rehoming fee. Adult dogs that people have had and cannot keep. I am sure if they wanted to they could but it seems like the first budget cut is the dog. I can't fathom it. Are people this shallow in other towns? The pound is full, and you know what that means.

[smurfalicious]

Sad to say but this had been happening like mad to horses for the past few years. Mind you horses are more expensive and hay skyrocketed in recent years. As in I went from $100-125 a ton of hay to $185-250. So naturally horses got cut quick for a lot of people even before the economy tanked. There was an article about it in the Boulder Daily Camera recently.

So I can see it for dogs. Dogs are a lot cheaper to keep, and people who perhaps don't have horse as hobby budgets could certainly have dogs. Naturally tightening belts means cutting the fluff and for some that means dogs. I just keep feeding my dogs fancy food and drinking less beer.

[bike4ever]

I noticed this in St. Louis. Check your local Craigslist - the number is amazing. All have a sad luck story - can't keep due to finances, house foreclosed, lost job.

[kermit]

The horses are out of control. I used to ride hunter/jumpers until my last horse kicked me in the face. Major surgery and my life flashing before my eyes. Any bike is cheaper. The circuit is now in Wellington, about an hour from me, and the horses are going for nothing. I have been tempted but don't have the time. The local horse rescue is busy but people with farms are taking them. I hate to see any animal suffer from the hand of an inconsiderate human.

[abejita]

No, it is not just you. I work with giant schnauzer rescue and there have been a ton of owner surrenders. The thing that gets me is that the people that I have met are not in what I would consider dire straights. There were a couple of people last fall who gave up there dogs because it was possible that they would get laid off. I think so many people feel that animals are accessories...and can get rid of them when they get a bit inconvienent. My husband and I have been through three layoffs in nine years that we have been married. We have managed to keep ourselves, our dog, and our house cared for. Part of it is that we planned for bad times and didn't spend every penny that we earned.

[sfa]

There was an article in our paper a few weeks ago about the numbers of pets being brought to shelters as a result of the economy. In most cases the families really don't want to give up their pets but are forced to when they lose their homes and go to live in rental units that don't allow pets. It's really sad, and something I can't even begin to imagine doing. But I suspect that the people in that situation thought the same thing until their circumstances forced them into it.

Sarah

[tulip]

I've read the same thing as sfa. Once people lose their houses, they have to rent. It's very difficult to find apartments that allow pets. Perhaps more landlords and rental companies should amend their policies during this time.

[ASammy1]

Unfortunately, it's not you. It's everywhere. I live in a very big military town and people are always looking to "rehome" pets due to transfers. The economy has just made it worse here.

[Aggie_Ama]

I have read it is increasing in Austin even though we are weathering the economy better than most.

[GLC1968]

It's everywhere. We often see people rehoming chickens, goats and sheep (along with horses) both because it's gotten expensive to feed them and becasue they lose their homes and can't take farm animals with them to rentals.

It's going to get exponentially worse when the shelters can't keep up and stop taking animals so that people start just letting them go 'free'. I can't think if a worse fate for a dog or cat!

Luckily, in the case of goats and chickens, there is also a rising demand if they are producing as more and more people search for ways to save money on food costs.

[Thorn]

Interesting, albeit sad, thread. As my cats enter the geriatric phase of their lives, they have gotten to be a bigger slice of the budget (somedays I think that they eat more $/day than I do).

For me, it isn't currently a problem, but the other day I was wondering what happens if you've been on a fixed income, your pet is getting older and requiring special food. Can you afford it? Yet, knowing the importance of pets, can you not? It is a sad side of the economic times. Very sad.

[snapdragen]

There was a story on the news about a Pet Food Bank starting up, to help people feed their critters.

[nancielle]

As sad as it is at least people are trying to rehome their pets. I came to own Hunter after his owners just put him out on the street when they were evicted.

[Brandi]

I am dealing with it on my own street. Remember Ponce? http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=28350 The cat with the stick in his face? I wrote about it before christmas while my niece was in the hospital. Well Ponce doesn't belong to me he belongs to my neighbor who works full time, has three kids under th age of 10 who are all at home by themselves all day till dad get's home at around 6:00. They have 3 pet's. Ponce, His little brother (unfixed) and their dog. The dad doesn't have time for his pet's. let alone his kids. He and his wife split about 8 months ago. I believe she has a drug problem. But you know things are bad with the family if they can't find time to help their animals stay healthy. I want to ask them to just let Ponce live here since he does most of the time anyway. I really want to get the brother fixed. He doesn't have time or the money to do it. I don't talk with him much. The fact that his cat walked around for 6 months with an open sore on his face kinda tells me the time he has for his pet's.

[Biciclista]

Brandi, just take the cat and make him an indoor pet!!

and then tell them, oh by the way, your cat came to my house and just stayed.