As in most crisis, it seems that the most vulnerable amongst us suffer the most. The foreclosure crisis has been devastating, not only for humans but for their pets as well. Last year I started to notice more stray dogs than I had seen in quite a while, I knew something was up.
After some investigation it dawned on me, it was all about people losing their homes. The stories we have all heard by now are heartbreaking. People consider their pets like family; we can choose to have or not to have children but to have a dog or cat is a choice. With that choice also comes a big responsibility.
If for some reason and this is not about blame or judgment, you find that you are going to lose your home, you have to make responsible plans for your pets.
Of course, first you’ll have to make new living arrangements for yourself and from that will stem the decision for housing your pet. If your pet can stay with you, well and good. If not, it may only be a temporary thing so you’ll need to find a place for them to stay for just a short while such as:
- Family members
- Neighbors
- Friends
- Coworkers
- Your veterinarian
It may be that your move is going to be permanent and your cat or dog is not welcome. You will now have to find a permanent home for them.
This is what you should NOT do:
- Leave them in the foreclosed house alone. You have no way of knowing when someone will come in, it might take weeks! The person entering might find a starving and or very aggressive dog. If you have a cat, it may be starving and hiding from strangers.
- Drop them off in front of the Vets office. First of all they might escape the container and get hurt and hopelessly lost. Unless they have a microchip implanted, the vet would have no way of knowing who they are or any of their medical information.
- Leave them to wander the street in hopes that some kind hearted soul will take them in. Chances are that they will get sick and injured to the point that it will be harder to get adopted.
Here are just a few really good resources that help in your search:
- ASPCA – http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=shelter_2k5_searchShelter
- Petfinder.com – http://www.petfinder.com/shelters.html
- 1-800-SAVE-A-PET – http://www.1-800-save-a-pet.com/
- Best Friends network – http://network.bestfriends.org/*** (Replace the asterisks with your state name)
These are just a few places to get you started. There is another choice if all else fails, that is to take your dog or cat to your local shelter. Today a lot of people are choosing to rescue dogs and cats from shelters rather buy them from a pet store and continuing the puppy mill horror. Hard as it is to face, euthanasia is more humane than leaving them to starve to death in an abandoned house.
This was a sad post for me to write about but it is also a real problem and every dog or cat I see running the street is heart breaking.
Your Best Friend Is Counting On You!
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