Pets suffering in current downturn
As we head deep into the winter of 2009, nobody is denying that an economic recession is underway and it's time to tighten the purse strings. Let's take a look at what that means for our pets.
By Kerry Gold
January 03, 2009
Unfortunately, a recession often means that pet ownership and care takes a back seat. In the U.S., where the credit crisis has meant job layoffs, pet owners are reportedly unloading their pets to animal shelters. The Denver Post reported that a Malvern, Pa. man turned in his two dogs so that he could afford his mother's cancer treatments.
New York City's Animal Care & Control is fighting to keep pets with their owners and avoid the shelter altogether. With 50 volunteers working for its Safety Net project in all five boroughs, the group vet care or places homeless pets with foster homes until their owners can get financially stable again.
Project coordinator Jenny Olsen says that cases have more than doubled in the last year, and many of them involve middle class people who've never needed help before.
"Our clients are usually on very restricted incomes," she says. "These last few months we're getting calls from people who used to be able to afford pet care but now can't."
She cites the example of a middle-aged couple who both lost their jobs and had to go live in a shelter. They kept their beloved pit bull in their van and had to take turns turning the heat on so that it could keep warm. Safety Net found a foster home for the dog.
As we head deep into the winter of 2009, nobody is denying that an economic recession is underway and it's time to tighten the purse strings. Let's take a look at what that means for our pets.
By Kerry Gold
January 03, 2009
Unfortunately, a recession often means that pet ownership and care takes a back seat. In the U.S., where the credit crisis has meant job layoffs, pet owners are reportedly unloading their pets to animal shelters. The Denver Post reported that a Malvern, Pa. man turned in his two dogs so that he could afford his mother's cancer treatments.
New York City's Animal Care & Control is fighting to keep pets with their owners and avoid the shelter altogether. With 50 volunteers working for its Safety Net project in all five boroughs, the group vet care or places homeless pets with foster homes until their owners can get financially stable again.
Project coordinator Jenny Olsen says that cases have more than doubled in the last year, and many of them involve middle class people who've never needed help before.
"Our clients are usually on very restricted incomes," she says. "These last few months we're getting calls from people who used to be able to afford pet care but now can't."
She cites the example of a middle-aged couple who both lost their jobs and had to go live in a shelter. They kept their beloved pit bull in their van and had to take turns turning the heat on so that it could keep warm. Safety Net found a foster home for the dog.
