The economy is unfriendly to pets
When this housing crisis first began a few years ago, I kept hearing horror stories of pets being left in foreclosed homes and found either dead or close to death by realtors weeks later. Pets have taken the brunt of this bad economy. People who lost their jobs and then their homes have no resources left for their pets that they acquired years before and expected to keep them for the pet's entire lifespan. Most pets rescues turned them away because they were overcrowded. Then some of the rescues had to shut their doors forever due to lack of donations. Rental homes and apartments would not allow pets or if they did they added a sizable cleaning fee to the deposit that someone who just lost about everything could not afford. So abandonment seemed like the only way to handle their pet situation. Amidst all of this, I hear on tonight's nightly news that there is a boom in spending on dogs. Where in the creation are these people getting their information from? Certainly not from those who are in charge of animal control in this country. Although I do see ads for Cape Cod rentals that are pet friendly that for $1500 a week you can take your dog with you but first add at least $300 in fees. Those places are not aimed toward the middle class income families but the more wealthy among us. There seems to such extremes with this economy right now and our pets are the victims of it.
