Number of Pets in Shelters Rises Due to Home Foreclosures

A growing number of pets at some animal shelters are left there because their owners are facing foreclosure or other economic troubles, reports The Washington Post.

“We get give-ups all the time, but typically it’s someone with allergies or a young animal with behavior issues,” says Kathy Dillon, operations coordinator at the Montgomery County Humane Society. “Now every week we’re seeing whole families come in to say good-bye to a longtime pet because they have to move. We’ve had a lot of children in tears.”

Several counties in the Washington metropolitan area have reported that as many as a third of the animals are brought to the shelter by people who were forced to move for economic reasons, the newspaper reports. Some families can no longer afford an older pet’s medical bills. Other cats and dogs have been found abandoned in foreclosed homes or simply set loose by the owners before they move.

“In some low-income areas, you’ll find one in about every 20 homes,” says Elizabeth Weintraub, a real-estate columnist for About.com, who recently wrote an article about real-estate agents finding pets left at homes. “You feel for the owners of these places, but the animals are suffering, too.”

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