In the past 2 weeks, I've had more calls about people who've abandoned their homes but have left their pets and are going back and forth daily to "care" for them...this makes my stomach turn. Just yesterday I had a woman call me who has been living in her van for the past 5 months with her two labs and she finally got an apartment that doesn't allow dogs.

Anyone else seeing that?

That stuff has been all over our news for months:(

Dani my waiting list to bring dogs in grows everyday. There are not a whole lot of places up here in the boondocks that allow animals in rentals let alone big dogs. Many of the small farms are going under and I am barraged with calls about abandoned livestock as well as pets. Somedays it is so overwhelming I just want to quit but then I have to wonder what would happen. I have 5 of my own dogs and 4-5 foster dogs at any given time at my house. I take them home so I will have room at the shelter for a few more that otherwise would be abandoned.

I ask myself daily if I am really cut out for this work day in and day out - I don't see it getting better anytime soon :(

yes! :(

Oh, I've gotten calls for people who are in foreclosure and have to move...but not abandonment...this is crazy.

There was an article in our newspaper a couple of month ago. It quoted the Oregon Humane Society as saying they're getting a lot more drop offs of dogs because owners had to move out of their houses and into rental living. Not too many rentals accept dogs - even in a major dog city like Portland.

I work at a vet clinic and we haven't (so far, knock on wood please!!!) received any dog drop offs but in the past 8 months have had 4 cats abandoned on our door step - 2 left in carriers at the front door before we opened, 1 left in a carrier under a chair in our busy waiting room, and 1 THROWN through the door as the owner continued driving away. 2 have found homes, 1 probably has a home, we are just trying to place the 4th.

I expect more :(

Yes. And the horse rescue I help run has seen a HUGE increase in horses headed to the meat auctions and those abandoned when the owners moved. We found a young filly 6 wks ago who had been turned loose near us. We have been unable to even find someone to GIVE her to. It's a scary time for those of us who love animals.....

It's really bad here in Las Vegas due to all the foreclosures. Dogs and cats. We have many dogs in boarding because we don't have enough foster homes. That's why I have 3 fosters right now. My little terrier mix was in boarding and it broke my heart. It's all so sad. :cry:

I had a foster who was left in the house when his owners moved out. They left the slider door open and propped open the gate, I guess hoping he would leave. :tapfoot: He didn't leave. The neighbors finally realized he was still there, they began feeding him and called our rescue. Poor Marco had some serious trust issues. If his owners could abandon him that way I doubt he was treated very good while in their care anyway. The good news is he finally found a wonderful caring owner.

You are lucky if you are just now seeing a problem. This area has been hard hit for the last year and half. At least your people are going back and forth to feed and water. Many people here have left the area and left their dogs, cats, horses, chickens, goats, lamas and you name it, to be cared for by someone else once their found, if their found in time.

Really it is kinder and more responsible to shoot the animal than to leave it fend for itself and die a slow and agonizing death. It has been a sad and hard time in the animal recue world and I predict it is going to get worse.

Really it is kinder and more responsible to shoot the animal than to leave it fend for itself and die a slow and agonizing death. It has been a sad and hard time in the animal recue world and I predict it is going to get worse.

People get mad at me when I say this but truly- have it euthanized instead of leaving it behind to slowly die! The one that really fries me is how many are turning senior dogs into kill shelters for one reason or another!! No surprise about man's inhumanity to man when they treat animals in such a manner.....

People are locking their dogs in their foreclosed homes down here...and leaving them never returning for any care. It is Florida...it is 85 degrees out already...it is sick.

People get mad at me when I say this but truly-

I know people get fired up when I say it too, but I don’t see those fired up people taking these unwanted animals into their home or opening their pocket book. Its reality. There were not enough homes in America for all the unwanted pets before the economic crisis.

I treat all living creatures like I would want to be treated. I would not want to experience extreme weather conditions, no food and slow agonizing death ALONE. Especially not when I had known love and was not able to understand what happened and where the love had gone. I would prefer the quick painless bullet over that any day.

The people that walk away from their pets or dump them off for someone else to care for are immature cowards and I would like to know who screened them and deemed them worthy of a pet, because those folks would be on my s*^t list too.

Around here, they've just been dumping dogs out.

It's so obvious when a dog's not just "running loose." They are looking for someone. Anyone. They're staying put. Waiting. Watching.

Makes me hate people. :-(

Around here, they've just been dumping dogs out.

It's so obvious when a dog's not just "running loose." They are looking for someone. Anyone. They're staying put. Waiting. Watching.

Makes me hate people. :-(

too late. i've hated people for quite some time. Most of them anyway. I cant begin to imagine leaving my dogs. I'd starve before not caring for them. They put their whole lives and trust in us and this is what people do. i'd use the bullet for the irresponsible owners, not the poor dogs left behind.

this thread truly makes my stomach turn

To those of you who are seeing the front lines of this every day:

Thank you. Your work is hard, heartbreaking, and many times thankless.

You are special people. Good people, down to your core. You do this even though it breaks you. Not many people have that in them.

Thank you.