Pet shelters throughout the country are now compelled to euthanize animals because shelter personnel are not able to treat ill and abandoned animals fast enough.
Because of the downturn, animal shelters are now overloaded with pets brought in by owners struggling from lack of jobs, families moving out of foreclosed houses and renters being evicted for failure to pay the rent.
Worse, animal shelters can no longer cope with the increased workload because of the sharp drop in donations and public funding. Some shelters are even facing foreclosures or evictions because they are already delinquent in their mortgage loan payments or rentals.
In Elkhart, Indiana, about 700 animals are being brought in by troubled pet owners every month to the Humane Society of Elkhart County, which has a capacity of only 266 pets.
Anne Reel, executive director of the shelter, explained that because of the overwhelming number of pets and the lack of adoptive pet owners, her personnel have been obliged to take the difficult position of deciding which of the animals need to be euthanized.
Reel said that in one month, her staff had to put to sleep 600 pets, about triple the number of pets usually euthanized in normal months.
According to Humane Society staff, the major reason for the high number of animals being given to pet shelters for adoption or being abandoned is the economic downturn. Pet owners no longer have the money to feed and care for their pets or the space to house them.
Shelter personnel said that they cannot enumerate the exact reasons because many pet owners just go to the shelter and leave their pets in drop boxes without filling out the forms. Staff is not even informed about the breeding or health background of the pets.
Since October last year, the shelter has accepted and handled 5,783 pets. Out of these, 42 percent were brought in anonymously.
Because of the high number of pets being cared for without a corresponding increase in funding, the shelter has been struggling. Its funds for free neutering and spaying have already been wiped out in April. The number of applications for its pet assistance scheme, which gives pet food to financially struggling pet owners, has increased.
With a contract to manage pets for Elkhart County, about 50 percent of the shelter’s annual budget is covered by county and city funds. But just like other pet shelters in the country, the Elkhart shelter is also looking for other ways to raise money for the abandoned pets.
