Mortgage crisis is hurting pets, too
By Cynthia Hubert - chubert at sacbee.com

Published 12:00 am PST Saturday, January 19, 2008
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B3

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/646392.html

As thousands of area families surrender to foreclosure their dreams of
owning homes, many are also leaving their dogs and cats behind.

Area shelters are filled with animals surrendered in recent months by
people forced to move to apartments or other places where their pets
are unwelcome, and managers are blaming the housing meltdown for the
surge. National animal groups have noted a similar trend.

"Very clearly it would appear that the economy and the mortgage
situation in particular are interfering with the ability of people to
care for their animals," said Leilani Vierra, director of the Placer
County SPCA. About three people a week are surrendering pets to the
shelter because of "a loss of a home or becoming homeless," she said.

During the last four months of 2007, the Sacramento SPCA received 176
dogs and cats from people who cited "moving" as the reason they could
no longer keep them, said director Rick Johnson. That is 100 more than
during the same time in 2006.

The mortgage crisis, spurred by easy financing of homes, has affected
people across the country but has hit particularly hard in California.
More than 7,600 households across the Sacramento region suffered
foreclosures last year.

Steve Brown and his wife, Deborah, of Citrus Heights are facing
foreclosure and possible relocation. Adding to the pressure, Brown
said, is the fact that they have three dogs, Lucky, Dakota and
Chocolate, who are considered members of the family.

"They sleep on the bed with us at night, all three of them," said
Brown, who lives on Social Security disability payments and could go
into foreclosure in February if he is unable to scrape up about $2,000
toward his mortgage. "I don't know what we will do if we have to
leave, but I can't imagine giving them up. Heaven forbid, even if we
had to go homeless we would have to take them with us."

The Humane Society of the United States recently issued an advisory
asking foreclosure victims to plan for their pets if they must move.
The organization has received scattered reports of former homeowners
simply abandoning their animals, said Stephanie Shain, HSUS director
of outreach.

"Abandoning pets for any reason is not only irresponsible, it's
illegal," said Shain. "People are so stressed. They may feel they
can't care for their pets financially, or they're overwhelmed by a
sudden move. But if you can't take them with you, the worst thing you
can do is leave them to fend for themselves."

People who are no longer able to house their pets and cannot find a
friend or rescue group to take them in should bring them to shelters,
she said.

Sheltered pets will have a better chance at finding a new home, Shain
said, and even if they must be put to death "at least they will be
euthanized painlessly" rather than die a "horrible" death in the
streets, she said.

The national group has no figures on abandonments linked to
foreclosures but has begun querying shelters across the country about
what they are seeing, said Shain.

Local shelters are still feeling the aftermath of destructive storms
earlier this month that blew down fences, terrified animals and caused
many cats and dogs to stray from their homes. That situation,
compounded with the mortgage meltdown, has filled some beyond
capacity.

"We ran out of kennel space, and our kennels are still very full,"
said Pat Claerbout, director of the county's animal care department.

Foreclosures have probably affected the county shelter less
dramatically than others, she said, because its mission is more
heavily focused on enforcement of animal protection laws and picking
up strays.

"If someone wants to surrender an animal to us because they're moving,
we encourage them to take the animal to the SPCA" or other shelters
that have more space and are more likely to find homes for them, she
said.

"We should be the shelter of last resort," Claerbout said. "The clock
is running here."

The Placer SPCA, which does not put animals to death because of
overcrowding, is "inundated with dogs," Vierra said. "We're having to
house some of the smaller ones in our spay and neuter area. We're
looking at office spaces and anywhere else we can put them."

In January, at least 20 percent of dogs and cats surrendered to the
shelter came from people who "lost their homes or were having such
extreme financial difficulties" that they could no longer afford to
care for them, Vierra said.

"It's pretty clear that those numbers are up," she said. "It's bad
enough that people are losing their homes, and then they have to give
up their pets. It's horrifying."