Pet Shelter Population on the Rise

The global economic crisis is also affecting pets. Many families can no longer afford their mortgaged home and as they move to a rented or smaller house, they are forced to leave their pets behind. The number of pets being dropped off to a New Jersey pet shelter has increased to sixty per cent. [Denton Infield, Pet Shelter Manager]: "We have a lot of people turning animals in who can no longer afford it, have lost their homes to foreclosure or are moving and just cannot afford the rent anymore — moving into smaller properties where they're not allowed to have animals and of course they are turning them into shelters." Dropping off a pet to a shelter is often a last-resort decision and one that causes families a lot of grief. [Denton Infield, Pet Shelter Manager]: "Well, people turning in animals because they can no longer afford them, it's like giving up a part of your family — a lot of tears, a lot of heartache, upset. You can see it in the kids. They don't want to let the cats go. They hold on to them." The recession is also hitting hard the running of pet shelters with a drop by two-thirds on donations over the past year. According to The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), five to seven million animals go into the shelter each year. And three to five million of those are put to sleep for lack of space and resources.   [Joe Sullivan, Senior Vice-President, ASPCA]: "These are wonderful, adoptable pets so it's a very high risk factor that unless you offer yourself as a foster home or you help the family find temporary housing, that these animals could be euthanized for lack of space and that's a horrible reason for a pet to die." Sullivan recommends people to call their local shelters to ask how they can help, whether it be to foster, send funds or donate time

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• ntd
• ntdtv
• news
• animals
• population
• lot
• pets
• shelters
• them
• turning
• longer
• family
• smaller
• denton
• sullivan
• home
• manager
• per