George Wolf
Nov 3,2008
In: Foreclosure Crisis

Foreclosure Pets On The Rise In Charlotte

The Humane Society of USA is reporting disturbing news about an increase of pets being abandoned. Some pets are taken to animal shelters but others are downright abandoned and deserted in horrendous conditions.

The numbers of foreclosure pets are on the rise in Charlotte. As elsewhere here too the animal shelters are being filled to capacity. Pebbles is one of the many picked up in a very sorry condition from a reo properties in Gaston County. She is slowly recovering in a shelter at Charlotte.

The Humane Society branch at Charlotte links the increase of foreclosures to the rise of abandoned pets. Some of the pets literally starved to death. Stephanie Shain, an expert in animal care says that pets keep on waiting for their owners to return.

Eyewitness News reports that in Charlotte there have been 1,200 foreclosures during the past month. The Humane Society in Charlotte had under its keep 1,500 dogs and cats in 2007. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Control expects a flood of 15,000 more this year. The owners themselves are traumatized when they come to give up their pets. They know that there is no alternative – they have to move. It is a mandate from the foreclosure crisis. While moving they cannot take their pets. Many landlords are reluctant about allowing pets. These situations are becoming more and more common – as common as foreclosures. Many really love their pets but there is nothing they can do.

The United State’s Humane Society warns potential tenants that they should not rely on the verbal assurance of landlords regarding pets. It should be given in writing to avoid later disagreement. This bone of contention might later lead to pet abandonment. In North Carolina abandoning pets is considered to be a crime. The penalty may be 30 days in jail or a fine of $1,000. The Humane Society of Charlotte has a website to guide those owners who are in trouble.

The pets that are being abandoned are not just cats and dogs but also turtles, snakes, horses and pigs. A special shelter has been set up for horses. None of the domestic pets can fend for themselves if let loose. Any society with the minimum vestige of humanity will make some arrangements for these animals we have taken from the wild to be our companions and are now discarding them because of our human failures. If ignored the wild will take over our world, as humans become beasts.