Posts Tagged ‘foreclousure’

The raging foreclosure crisis has put pet owners in a tight corner. The shelter and rescue organizations for animals are facing increased pressure, as more pets are being abandoned or surrendered by the foreclosed owners. The suffering animals have come to be termed ‘foreclosure pets’. Some are left behind either outside or trapped inside the doomed house. Few have been thoughtfully brought over to the local animal shelters. Under the changed circumstances the evicted persons neither have the will nor the power to continue to care for their pets.

Sarah Swanty of Fort Collins Cat Rescue comments that ‘those people really have no choice’ as they have lost the houses that were their homes. The number of cases are sharply increasing and keeping pace with the increase in foreclosures.

The Larimer Humane Society has not been particular about keeping specific records of pets abandoned because of foreclosures. Usually the reasons cited are ‘moving’. The people do not want to elaborate further most probably out of a sense of shame. It is the economy that is behind this deluge and the dumb creatures are paying for it. The responsibility for caring for these animals has shifted to the non-profit animal caring societies. But the latter have neither the infrastructure nor the funds to manage the increasing pressure of work.

It is difficult to find homes for the pets, as the economic condition makes few willing to come forward and adopt a pet. The older the age of the pet the more acute is the problem considering medical expenses. The animals that are over the age of two take a longer time to be adopted. Generally the potential pet owners prefer the sweet cuddly young ones rather than mature cats and dogs that have a mind of their own and cannot forget the past. An agonized Swanty said ‘it’s devastating when people with 13 year old pets call and want to get rid of them.’ Nobody wants to take on the responsibility of an old cat. Yet Swanty’s organization does not undertake mercy killing.

It is the same story across the country. Everywhere the animal shelters and like-minded organizations are facing the same problem. March and April found the least number of potential adopters. It has never been quite so low. Funds too were not forthcoming. Swanty is worried whether For Collins Cat Rescue will live through its second birthday.

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