I saw this article today in the Philadelphia Inquirer, and it made me so sad. People being forced from homes are abandoning and relinquishing their pets. Sometimes because they can't afford the vet care they are also dumping their pets.

If you can afford to support an animal shelter, especially no kill shelters like Main Line Animal Rescue or Morris Animal Refuge or Francisvale, please DO help them out. Our pets aren't furry accessories with legs.....Help the people who help the animals which obviously can't help themselves...Pets give us so much and ask for so little in return. And if you can afford to adopt a homeless pet, please do.....

Main Line Rescue: www.mainlinerescue.com (open by appointment only)
Box 89
Chester Springs, Pa. 19425
Phone: 610-933-0606

www.morrisanimalrefuge.org

www.francisvalehome.org

Posted on Mon, Nov. 10, 2008
Tough times hitting animal shelters, too
By Melissa Dribben
Inquirer Staff Writer

Samantha is cowering in the corner of a cage in the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) shelter on Hunting Park Avenue.

"She's a little freaked out right now," says Natalie Smith, coordinator of community programs. "The noise in here is very stressful for some dogs."

The 5-year-old purebred bloodhound, with droopy jowls, soulful eyes, and a sleek caramel-brown coat, was dropped off the day before by her owner's friend.

"I couldn't bear to take her there," says Mary Stein. "It was horrible for me." Stein, 34, a veterinary technician who used to work at the shelter, had bought Samantha as a puppy. She raised the dog along with two adopted mutts in a house she shared in Kensington with two roommates.

With the economic downturn, however, one roommate moved to Texas for a better-paying job. And Stein, who most recently worked at Petco, had her hours cut back. No longer able to afford the house, she moved into a small apartment this fall.

"There just wasn't enough room for Samantha," Stein said, sobbing. "I have nowhere else to go. If I did, I never would have done this."

As the recession forces more and more Americans to downsize, leaving their homes and struggling to pay their bills, animal welfare groups report a dramatic rise in pets given up for adoption or abandoned on the street.

"We got a call from a young couple last Sunday," said Bill Smith, founder of Main Line Rescue. "They were on a payphone in a parking lot at a Burger King in West Chester. They said they were on their way to a [homeless] shelter themselves and needed us to take their dog and cat."

A passing social worker saw the couple and, realizing they were in trouble, stopped to ask if she could help, Smith said. "She drove them here." The dog, 10-year-old Chance, is a cross between a cocker and a springer spaniel. The cat, Charlie Brown, is 6 and has a deformed leg.

Two regional shelters recently received dogs after neighbors reported that the animals were kept in cars all day. In both cases, the owners were homeless and living in the cars with their pets.