Family Pets One More Victim of Foreclosure
By Brett Weiss, Maryland Bankruptcy Attorney on Apr 9, 2008 in Featured, Foreclosure Issues, Maryland, Mortgages
The pain of foreclosure runs deep. According to an article in The Washington Post, “Losing a Best Friend Along With the House,” local animal shelters are reporting that 15% of animals received in the past two months are the result of foreclosure.
The story quotes Kathy Dillon, the operations coordinator at the Montgomery County, Maryland Humane Society. “We get give-ups all the time, but typically it’s someone with allergies or a young animal with behavior issues. Now every week we’re seeing whole families come in to say good-bye to a longtime pet because they have to move. We’ve had a lot of children in tears.” The problem is even worse elsewhere. In Frederick County, Maryland, fully one third of the county shelter’s population of 30 dogs and 100 cats are from people who were forced to move for economic reasons.
Many apartments and interim housing do not allow pets, leaving families with hard choices about how to deal with their dog, cat or bird. Sadly, some are simply abandoning their pets. Three recent prosecutions for animal cruelty have been brought against people who left their pets in empty, foreclosed houses. Others just open the door and let the animal out, leaving it to fend for itself, often with disastrous consequences for pets that have no ability to survive outside of the house.
“No kill” animal shelters and animal rescue leagues will take pets, even elderly animals, and place them in new homes.
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