There are victims of the foreclosure crisis and the financial troubles that DON'T have the ability to call their Congressman for a bailout. They just have to cope.
They are the dogs and cats that are left behind. They are the ones that are surrendered because their owners can't afford to take care of them anymore. The shelters are getting flooded with animals... and some of them are drowning in the tide, and the red ink.
I ran across a story today about the ASPCA shelter in Suwanee. They are unable to accept animals because they are out of space, and they are soon to be 100% out of space because they are out of money. Unfortunately, they aren't alone. Across the country, shelters are getting less in donations and grants, and are getting more animals.
Luckily, the ASPCA shelter is a no-kill shelter, and they will work to find foster families for the pets there if they lose their space, but they won't be able to take in any more pets... and those pets may end up someplace that doesn't give them the same chance.
Normally at Christmas, they have more people adopting pets, but this year is different.
While you are thinking of the kids that need a Santa, remember that they aren't the only ones.
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I'd love to hear from you...
Yay! This is so true. I'm kind of afraid that I'll go to a vacant REO and there will be a cat there. I'll end up bringing it home. And I'm pretty sure my other cats won't be too happy with me if I do that.
Lane,
We keep hearing more and more about this unpleasant happening. You may want to check out this website, it is just another way that people can help and it not cost anything. It will donate .6 bowls of food for each click. No I am not trying to spam just trying to help.
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=3&ThirdPartyClicks=ERA_122108_ARS
Thanks for the reminder to buy an extra bag of dog and cat food to take to the shelter. Our local shelter takes donations of blankets and towels as well. I do worry about finding a pet when I go to check out a new foreclosure and know I willl have a hard time taking them to the shelter but we are at animal max at our house.
Cindy, thanks for presenting that problem to the readers here. It is becoming an astronomical nightmare for the animal shelters. The worst thing that is happening to the dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, birds, fish, etc is that the people are moving out and leaving them behind, to slowly starve to death. It takes months for a bank rep to finally check on a house, by then the animals are dead. People are also turning out their horses, to fend for themselves. If we all are vigilant, investigate the newly foreclosed house down the street, donate food to the shelters, we can make a difference for these poor animal victims.
Joslyn - I don't know what I'll do if I run across a cat... I'm allergic and don't particularly like them... but they seem to like me and I want them to have good homes.
Don - Clicked and gave some food to a four footed somebody...
Cindy - My wife has been a supporter for years...
Terry - Gee, Cindy gets all of the credit?