Rescue in the recession

While people are losing their jobs, pushing to make ends meet, and trying to cut back, it's easy to forget that we are not the only ones struggling in the current recession. As families fight to keep their children fed, something has to give. Unfortunately, more often than not, that something is the family pet. We see the effects in our animal rescues and our veterinary practices every day.

In the past few months, all of our veterinary friends have been commenting on the effect the recession has had on their practices. The common trend is that appointment numbers are down, way down. But that's far from the only effect the veterinary community is seeing. Even when clients do make the commitment or find the funds to come in for an office visit, they frequently don't have the money to do necessary diagnostics and have waited to make an appointment much longer than they normally would, leaving the veterinarian with little they can do to help. As a sad consequence, this means that euthanasia rates are up, way up. When clients can't afford medical care and wait until their animals are really sick to bring them to the vet, there oftentimes isn't another option. Veterinarians are tired of killing animals, but they don't have much of a choice.

Of course, veterinary practices aren't the only ones hit by the recession. Animal rescues and shelters have been slammed. Intakes in shelters are through the roof, and every day animals are dropped off not because they are strays, not because they are sick, not because they are unloved, but simply because their owners can't afford them and can't keep them. Shelters are full of animals that simply don't belong there. On a daily basis, we get emails from at least a handful of owners looking to find a place for their pet in a no-kill rescue, and we sadly have to turn them away.

What's worse than the increase in animal intakes, is the decrease in adoptions. Because families are being cautious about their finances, they aren't adopting. Our adoption number are less than half of what they were last year at this time, as are many other rescues. We have a huge number of highly adoptable cats and dogs just waiting for their home. Unfortunately, it looks like they'll have to wait a little longer. This breaks our hearts; it's hard to say "no" to animals that have no where else to go, but again, there isn't really another option.

So in these tough times, take a minute to think about your furry loved ones and to appreciate the fact that you CAN still take care of your pet. Remember that we're not the only ones hurt by the recession. If you have an extra dollar burning a hole in your pocket, think about donating it a local rescue group that can put it to good use. If you have a little extra room in your house, think about adopting another friend or fostering for a while to give a needy pet a place to go. And please, if you do nothing else, spay and neuter your furry friends.