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A story we saw recently on ABC's Nightline is today, Tuesday, March 25,
in the US's most widely circulated newspaper. USA Today includes an
article, by Sharon L. Peters, headed, "Foreclosures slam doors on pets,
too;
Shelters in hard-hit areas report a surge in animals being abandoned."
(Pg 4d)

It opens:
"They're arriving by the thousands every month, homeless, hapless
victims of foreclosure.

"Family pets, their lives upended by the ravaged finances of their
owners, are landing in animal shelters in large numbers in some parts of
the country.

"The precise numbers are unknown, because there is no nationwide
standard for recording foreclosure pets and because many owners who surrender
animals at shelters tell personnel only that they are 'moving' and
give no specifics.

"But shelters that are experiencing an increase in pet intakes are
almost without exception in areas where the foreclosure rate is high. Now
there's growing concern that another, perhaps bigger wave of pet
surrenders is in the offing, the result of the worsening economy and growing
joblessness that will affect additional homeowners as well as renters."

The article includes some heartbreaking scenarios. We read:
"The Pennsylvania program is addressing one of animal welfare experts'
greatest concerns: that pet owners, worried that their animals will be
euthanized at the shelter, are setting them loose or leaving them in
empty houses and garages with some food and water. Often the abandoned
animals aren't found for days or weeks and are dead or dying, they say.
And ultimately the survivors wind up in a shelter anyway."

You'll find the whole article on line at
http://www.usatoday.c...