Recession reaches shelters

<p>Downsizing.</p><p>It's a word one tends to think of in terms of company layoffs, trading in large houses and buying smaller cars.</p><p>But it turns out another symptom of the nation's economic plight is a trend toward downsizing households with the surrender of family pets.</p><p>Around the nation, animal shelters are reporting increases in the number of dogs, cats and other pets being relinquished because of economic imperatives.</p><p>The most oft-cited reason? Foreclosures forcing their owners into rentals that don't allow pets.</p><p>"There have been a lot," said Christi Camblor, shelter veterinarian at the Humane Society and SPCA of Sonoma County. "It's unfortunate."</p><p>Development Director Cindy Roach said intake of surrendered pets is up about 9 percent.</p><p>About 90 percent of owners who bring in their pets say it's because they can't have animals in their new rentals, Roach said.</p><p>"They have to downsize, basically," said Adoption Supervisor Gabe Rathmann. "We have definitely noticed, the last six months or so, an increase in animals being surrendered because of foreclosures."</p><p>The shelter also has rescued a large number of dogs from agencies in the Sacramento area, where foreclosures have hit particularly hard, Roach said.</p><p>It's the same story in Mendocino County, where the county Animal Care and Control department reported a spike in the number of animals being abandoned or relinquished since the economy began its downward spiral.</p><p>The facility hit a new record with 93 dogs earlier last week, said Division Administrator Bliss Fisher.</p><p>Bucking the trend, the Sonoma County Animal Care and Control facility has seen only a slight increase in the number of owner-relinquished pets, shelter supervisor Cathy Fenn said.</p><p>It's hard not to look at Millie, a 7-year-old Lab/shepherd mix with a sweet face and puppy-like demeanor, without imagining the heartache her owners experienced when they had to move to an apartment and give her up, surrendering her to the county-run shelter.</p><p>The surrender of beloved pets can be heart-wrenching, said Fisher, with Mendocino County Animal Care and Control.</p><p>"We've had families come in crying," she said.</p><p>That's one reason there's a tissue box up front on the desk at the Humane Society on Highway 12, Rathmann said.</p><p>Those surrendering animals also must do so by appointment, outside normal business hours.</p><p>The economy is a factor, but other reasons people cite for giving up their pets include divorce, a death in the family and new litters of unwanted puppies and kittens.</p><p>The population growth at animal shelters in Connecticut, Nebraska, Texas, Utah and other states shows how the weak economy is also shrinking the pool of potential adopters in those areas. And it coincides with a drop-off in government funding and charitable donations.</p><p>There is no nationwide data being collected on the reasons dogs and cats are being abandoned by their owners, but shelter managers and advocates for animals say the trend is undeniable -- and probably a bigger phenomenon than they are aware of.</p><p>"People are embarrassed to admit that's why they're giving up their pets," said Betsy McFarland, the Humane Society's national director of communications for companion animals.</p><p>The effect has been cramped quarters for dogs and cats, a faster rate of shelters euthanizing animals and some shelters turning away people looking to surrender pets, according to interviews with several shelters and animal advocates. Of the estimated 6 million to 8 million dogs and cats sent to animal shelters every year, half are euthanized and the rest adopted, according to the Humane Society of the United States.</p><p>"It's definitely discouraging for us," said Adam Goldfarb, a national spokesman for the Humane Society. "One of our major goals is to develop and celebrate the bond between people and animals. It's so tragic when families reach a point when they can't afford to care for their pets."</p><p>An Associated Press-Petside.com poll found that one in seven owners nationwide reported reduced spending on their pets during the past year's recession. Of those cutting back, more than a quarter said they have seriously considered giving up a pet.</p><p>The average annual cost of owning a dog is about $1,400, while the average annual cost of a cat is about $1,000, according to a survey conducted by the American Pet Products Association. The survey suggests there are some 231 million pets -- excluding fish -- in more than 71 million homes in America.</p><p>For animals turned into shelters in Sonoma and Mendocino counties, there's good news in a brisk rate of adoptions, especially around the Christmas holiday, making it possible for them to accept new animals.</p><p>Adoptions at the Sonoma SPCA shelter were up 60 percent in November 2008 compared with November 2007, Roach said.</p><p>"I don't know if it's the press about the Obamas bringing in a shelter dog or if people in this tough economy are turning to the basics," she said.</p><p>In Mendocino, Fisher reported an increase in December, but she said it happens every year at Christmastime.</p><p>At the Sonoma County shelter on Saturday, Millie, the Lab/shepherd mix, left for a new home on 4½ acres outside Sebastopol with Dave Wilson, his wife and retriever mix Taiko.</p><p>A kitten named Lovey, whose mom and sibling were surrendered to the Humane Society by a woman who couldn't keep them, found herself a new family Saturday too.</p><p>"As you can see, we're finding good homes for them," Rathmann said. "But it's unfortunate to have to put them in the middle of that situation."</p><p>The Associated Press contributed to this report. You can reach Staff Writers Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com and Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com.</p>