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Bad Economy Becoming Good News For Local Pets
March 15, 2009You've no doubt heard the term "foreclosure pet" - pets abandoned at animal shelters because their owners have lost their homes, but has it become a convenient excuse?
"We definitely believe that there are situations happening where families are in such economic straits, they're cutting out everything," John Van Zante of the Helen Woodward Animal Center said.
"We know it's happening, our concern is the people who it isn't happening to still using this as an excuse to get rid of really great pets," he said.
Van Zante says fortunately at the Helen Woodward Animal Center they've seen fewer pets being brought in.
"People are keeping their pets in droves," he said.
In February 2008, the center took in 327 surrendered pets, compared to February of this year when they took in only 209. In fact, the bad economy has been good for pets at the animal center, which has seen a 15 percent increase in adoptions.
"We're finding that as people are adjusting to economy, a lot of them instead of making that vacation trip, they're looking for "staycations" in San Diego and Southern California, and part of that involves getting a pet. So that's why a lot of shelters and rescue groups are seeing and increase in adoptions," Van Zante said.
And Van Zante doesn't believe those numbers are skewed by the location of the animal center.
"We have pets that come in to us not just from Rancho Santa Fe, but all over the county, Orange County, Riverside, San Bernardino, Imperial," he said. "I think we can't take a look at the neighborhood as a reference as to why we're seeing fewer surrenders and more adoptions."
If you're a family that's going to be taking more staycations, and you're interested in adopting a pet, visit the Helen Woodward Animal Center to see if any of the pets might be a good fit for your home.
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