Pets Collateral Damage in Economy Crisis

re: Grants Pass OR "DAILY COURIER", Friday 9 May 08 (no link available to non-paying subscribers)

Big increase in 'surrendered' animals noted
By Patti Richter of the Daily Courier

With her floppy ears, sweet demeanor and wiggling body, Calista is sure to bring someone joy. Just not her original owners.
The 6-month-old Black Labrador Retriever at the Rogue Valley Humane Society is one of the latest victims of the struggling economy and homeowners facing foreclosure. As more homeowners face losing their houses, their pets often become a burden when trying to find an apartment or home to rent.
Other owners are stuck with the unenviable choice of paying for gas to get to work or feeding their pets.
"It's such a shame," said Margaret Varner, assistant manager at RVHS. "Now, our four-legged friends are starting to feel it. It's hard to have to watch it."
Calista came to RVHS by a stroke of good luck. Two of the shelter's volunteers were returning from delivering a dog to a new home in Medford when they saw someone in a pickup truck pull off the road, throw out Calista and speed away.
"Our volunteers tried to get the license plate number, but had to choose between that and saving the dog," Varner said. "So they chose the dog."
Since January, both RVHS and Joseph8ine County Animal Control have seen more people bringing in their animals. Few of the "owner surrenders", as they are known, are due to an animal's bad behavior. Most owners are having to move and can't take their pet with them.
Coming to work Monday and finding a dog tied to the fence or having just given birth to eight puppies is nothing new for Animal Control Supervisor Brad Tally.
The shelter will soon have eight Black Lab puppies and eight Husky/Shepherd mix puppies available for adoption.
Tally said real estate agents have been finding animals abandoned in the backyards of homes they are showing.
Since January, owners have turned over 95 dogs to Animal Control, up from about 73 during the same period last year. Figures for cats are also up by about 5 percent over last year.
One positive thing about the "owner surrendered" dogs is most have good manners and are housebroken. Most are also good around children and like people. All of those qualities make them easier to place in a new home, Tally said.
"It's a last resort for pet owners to bring them to us," he said. "They are pretty emotional and really don't want to turn over the dog. But they don't have any other options."
Budgets are already strained for both shelters. Donations of food for cats and dogs are always needed. Animal Control and RRVHS also need volunteers to make dogs more adoptable by socializing them.
Christina Reed, manager for the RVHS shelter, said it sometimes has extra dog and cat food and is willing to share with pet owners in need.
"We would rather give them some food than see the animal starve", Reed said. "And if we give them some food, maybe they will be able to keep the animal. That way it doesn't end up dumped off here."
For more information or to donate, call Animal Control at 541-474-5458 or the RVHS at 541-479-5154.

Reach reporter Patti Richter at 541-474-3723 or prichter@thedailycourier.com.

Breaks my heart, it does...

I take in fosters for one of the breed rescues. We have seen several dogs turned into rescue recently because the owners had lost their jobs / homes and could no longer take proper care of their dogs.

Our dog ended up in the ER Monday night. It cost us about $250. Thank God we had the stimulus money.

First, there's ALWAYS a solution if you want to keep your furkid badly enough. Most people simply don't want to do the legwork it takes to find a place that'll take the dog. As I've said many times before, I'll live in a tent before I'll give up my dog.

A lot of similar stories here in my area, too. Stories of people just walking off, leaving their pets inside empty houses or back yards with no food or water. As our heat is due any day, it's going to give the poor animal even less time to be rescued.

I, too, would live in the middle of a slum rather than leave my pet. In fact, at one time I did live in just an area as I wouldn't give up my dog. I was poor, too. The first thing I did every month when money came in was buy my dog a month's worth of food. If I got hungry when food ran low, I had options, my pet didn't and I always made sure she was fed. People can do it if they want to give it some effort.

Dennis Olson said:

First, there's ALWAYS a solution if you want to keep your furkid badly enough. Most people simply don't want to do the legwork it takes to find a place that'll take the dog. As I've said many times before, I'll live in a tent before I'll give up my dog.

Click to expand...

Yes, but would you give up you CHILD before your dog?

My children are 21 and 24. I don't have to give up anything. But from a philosophical standpoint, no, I would not give up either.

If people are giving up "Their Fur-kids" wait till you start to see abandonned children. This is a comin'.

During the last Great Depression, there was plenty of abandoned children selling potatoes and flowers and stealing to get by living in NYC. Since then there is a lot of other bigger cities now and we'll start seeing it again. Foster homes are full now and when we tried to get help for some kids left abandoned who were 16 + 17 we were told they were busy trying to place 11 year olds and the older kids would have to fend for themselves.

MM

Adding this was several years ago, so I can only imagine how bad it is getting now.

We live just outside a tiny town.....

and our neighbor just had 3 well-cared for little Shi'tzu dogs dropped off at her acreage two weeks ago, when we had a blizzard. They obviously weren't out walking in the snow, so she sent them to the Pound after advertising for a week.

No response at all to her ads or phone calls to the Pound, nobody interested.......someone could not care for them