The Economy is Hurting Animals Too

Posted by Mia Carter Jul 8, 2008

So this afternoon, I paid a visit to the Boston Animal Rescue League to collect my newest furry family member: a cat named Tobin whom I helped to rescue from Boston's Tobin Bridge last week. She's recovering from her recent spay operation and she's now at home, resting comfortably and ready to start her new life.

But while we were waiting for the ARL staff to bring Tobin out, we strolled around the shelter, checking out all the other animals - so many of whom I wished I could take home along with our new girl Tobin. And a sad realization struck: there, in black and white, was a sign of how the bad economy has adversely affected our animals. Dozens - maybe a third of the animals overall - who were available for adoption were at the shelter due to home foreclosures and other similar situations where families were forced to give up their homes. The cage tags said it all: "foreclosure," "family could no longer afford," "caretaker lost job."

You know, when I hear all of those reports on the U.S. economy, they never mention all of the other beings that are suffering. And to be honest, it's not something that came to mind before today. The news stations are preoccupied with human stories of misfortune, but visiting that shelter today, I realized just how many animals have been affected. So many pets, abandoned or surrendered to shelters because their families could no longer keep them due to the loss of their home to foreclosure, job loss or other unfortunate circumstances. Thousands of pets must be impacted nationwide, homeless because their caretaker lost his/her job or home. It's a sad realization.