More Pet Owners Seek Aid, Give Up Animals Due to Costs

Maryann Mott
for National Geographic News

August 6, 2008

In the fallout from rising fuel prices, job losses, and foreclosures in the United States, many people are facing hard choices about what to sacrifice to stay afloat.

For some, this means deciding whether to give up a member of the family.

More pet owners are struggling to pay for food and veterinary care, and some are being forced to abandon their animals when they move or relinquish them to shelters.

More than half of all U.S. households own a pet and, on average, the annual cost of ownership runs between $400 to $800 for food, supplies, and medical care, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

(Related photos: "Pets, Hurricane Katrina's Other Victims" [September 8, 2005].)

Pet-food pantries, animal shelters, and other nonprofits are helping to alleviate costs for owners who have fallen on hard times. But many of these organizations are straining to keep up.

"I think we're all going through economic struggles right now with the way the business environment is," said Brigitte Farrell, executive director of the Frederick County Humane Society in Maryland.

Friends in Need

So far this year, Pikes Peak Pet Pantry in Colorado Springs, Colorado, has donated nearly three tons of cat and dog food to needy locals.

Darlene McCaslin, a self-described cat rescuer, started the pantry last September after noticing more people were considering giving up their pets due to finances.

Twice a week a steady flow of cars pulls up to the storage unit where the organization operates to load up on bags of food and kitty litter—no questions asked.

"We give help to anyone who needs it," said McCaslin, who has helped individuals in seven other states start their own pet pantries.

About 20 miles (32 kilometers) outside of downtown Chicago, Illinois, long lines also form each month at the Animal Welfare League's pet food bank.

At the same time, the league's low-cost veterinary clinic is handling more cases than ever before, said Linda Estrada, the group's director and president.

"We have people who come to our clinic and have $12 to their name," she said. "It's so sad."

But increased demand for medical care and food, combined with an influx of abandoned animals at its shelter, are financially crippling the nonprofit, she said.

The group has therefore put out more urgent pleas to the community asking for donations.

Meanwhile, United Animal Nations, a disaster response and welfare organization in Sacramento, California, is seeing a surge in applications for its financial assistance grants.

(Related: "Flood-Stricken Iowa Pets Reunited with Owners" [June 20, 2008].)

People seeking the group's LifeLine grants for veterinary care increased 58 percent over the same period last year, said spokesperson Alexis Raymond. An increasing number of the applicants are citing job loss, cut hours, and/or foreclosure as reasons for applying.

As financial-aid options run dry, many private and public animal shelters are starting to overflow with pets that people can no longer afford.

The Arizona Humane Society in Phoenix has responded to 1,307 animal abandonment calls this year—a 90 percent increase from last year.

Estrada, of Chicago's Animal Welfare League, said they've experienced a 20 percent spike in calls concerning animals left behind in foreclosed homes.

Part of the reason is the difficulty former homeowners have finding pet-friendly rentals, she said. Of the places that do allow pets, many impose weight restrictions or high additional deposits that can limit pet owners.

Recently the Humane Society of the United States and American Humane Association began offering financial assistance grants to dozens of struggling shelters nationwide so they can continue helping animal victims of the economic downturn.

Getting Creative

Anna Worth, a veterinarian in Bennington, Vermont, said she is noticing her clients shifting priorities and making sacrifices elsewhere so they can afford procedures. Still, they're not as quick to agree to routine services such as teeth cleanings that can run upward of $250.

"People [now] have to think about it three times before saying, Yes," Worth said.

In the long run, people can better manage the cost of veterinary care by planning ahead, said Worth, who is also president of the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA).

Setting up a special savings account or applying for a medical credit card can help with expenses when times are lean, she said.

In addition, some organizations offer special wellness plans with deeply discounted packages of preventative healthcare services.

Worth added that the AAHA recently persuaded some pet insurers to offer special policies for catastrophic events. The higher deductibles on those policies reduce the premiums on regular plans and make insurance a more viable option for many budgets, she said.

But for those facing more immediate financial decisions, solving some of the issues might mean getting creative, experts say.

For example, Estrada suggested that people facing rental restrictions try bartering with their landlords.

Ask about mopping the apartment's hallways or maintaining landscaping, she said, in exchange for a lower deposit or allowing a larger dog.

If owners must give up their animals to a shelter, Estrada urges them not to lie and say they are strays, because pets with known personalities are adopted much faster.

Tim Crum, executive director of the Arizona Humane Society, advises owners to actively seek out family and friends to adopt their pets should financial crisis cause them to lose their homes.

"We live in a day and age where people will generally step up to help out others in tough economic times," he said. "Sometimes all it takes is just to ask."