My Friendly Pets

With the increase in housing forclosures and bankruptcies, humans are not the only victims of this economic suffering. Unfortunately shelters are being swamped with animals who are being abandoned because their owners are just up and leaving their homes and can’t take their dogs with them. While the amount of animals increasing in shelters is alarming, it is still a better alternative than just leaving your dog in the house to die, which is also happening around the country.

The mortgage crisis is not the only reason why people are having difficult economic time. We are all victims of increased energy costs. Most of us are worried about how we are going to pay for gas and oil to heat our homes. The increasing price of food and other household goods due to natural events as well as increased energy costs have also caused people to abandon their dogs because they can’t afford to feed them or keep them healthy. Bringing a dog for well care visits, keeping up on vaccinations and spaying or neutering can be expensive. If people don’t have money for their basic expenses, many will neglect the needs of their dogs.

I am not condemning those who have run into economic hard times. We are all victims of the rising costs to live in this country. But we can’t allow those dogs, who we promised to care for and who love us unconditionally, to suffer. They too are innocent victims. There are many ways to keep your animals as part of your family and afford to do so. Many local municipalities will offer vaccine clinics and discounted heartworm and tick preventative medications. There are also places where spaying and neutering will be performed at discount rates. It is not necessary to bring other dogs into this world if you can’t take care of the ones you have already. And finally, if you cannot take your dog with you or absolutely cannot afford to keep your dog, don’t abandon it or drive and dump it somewhere, take it to a shelter where you know it will be cared for until adopted. While shelters are full and resources scarce, your dog will be better cared for than leaving it to starve or fend for itself.