When the Dog House Must Be Sold

The housing crunch is taking its toll on pets as well as people. According to USA Today, thousands of pets, whose owners have lost their homes to foreclosure, are arriving every month at animal shelters around the country. Although there are no exact numbers, workers at shelters in areas where foreclosures are high are reporting an upsurge in pets put up for adoption because their owners are "moving."

The Humane Society of the United States has created a $15,000 fund to help shelters accommodate the needs of all these new arrivals and many individual shelters, including the Pennsylvania SPCA, are devising programs to help these pets.

In my neck of the woods, the Pennsylvania SPCA has waived the fees usually associated with their "good home guarantee" program which essentially guarantees that the pets surrendered due to foreclosures will not be euthanized. "With everything else they're going through, (people who foreclose) should not have to worry that their animal will be euthanized," says CEO Howard Nelson. According to USA Today, at least 10 families have taken advantage of the PA program in less than three months.

Of course this brings up the topic of responsible pet ownership, a subject that applies to animals of all types. I can't tell you the number of horses that were paraded through the New Holland ring with their ribs sticking out because their owners could no longer afford to feed them. In the perfect world, owners should plan for their pets as well as for their human dependents in the case of the proverbial rainy day. Sadly, many do not and simply leave their pets to fend for themselves when they abandon their homes.

Hurricane Katrina demonstrated that Americans care about their pets even when they are forced to leave them behind. Bravo to the SPCA and Humane Society for trying to make a heart-wrenching situation a little easier. I can only imagine that it is indeed some consolation to know that your beloved pets are being provided for if you cannot do it yourself.

No one ever wants to think about being in this situation but perhaps now is a good time to stockpile some extra pet food and medicine(s), just in case.