Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 5, 1992 TAG: 9201050015
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BOSTON LENGTH: Medium
AS TIMES GET TOUGHER, ANIMAL SHELTERS FILL UP
The recession is taking its toll on all members of the family, including pets.Animal shelters report increases in the numbers of strays and pets being "surrendered" - from cats, dogs and horses to chickens, geese and even Vietnamese potbellied pigs.
"Pets are indicative of any changes in society," said Katy Dwyer, shelter manager at Boston's Animal Rescue League.
Dwyer said between 10,000 and 11,000 cats were surrendered to the league in 1991, along with about 2,500 dogs. It was a slight increase over the previous year of hard times, but there was an intensified sadness about it all.
"This past year a lot of people started to give up older pets, pets they shared their lives with for 10 or 15 years. We found more people being evicted and not able to keep pets - single mothers, people whose economic situations changed so drastically that they had to give up pets they wouldn't before," she said. Eighty-five percent of the animals are destroyed.
The problem has apparently not reached this area, however. Robert Webb, president of the Roanoke Valley Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said there has been no abnormal increase in animals taken to the society's shelter.
"The traffic has been about the same," he said. There's a steady increase. That's to be expected."
Donna Bishop, director of the companion animals program for the Alliance for Animals of Boston, said she has encountered people who have taken extraordinary measures to keep their animals.
"There's a lot of elderly women who go without food or heat to provide for the animals. . . . It's not just weird people; it's pretty widespread, especially in the inner city," Bishop said.
Jill Pratt of the Colorado Horse Rescue said 110 horses were given up in 1991.
"There have been a lot of sad people coming through here," said Pratt. "Looking at [how many] horses come through, it's clear the economy is not getting better."
Pet-owner support services also are being overburdened.
The Anti-Cruelty Society in Chicago runs an animal clinic for poverty-level pet owners. The clinic had 2,000 clients two years ago, but has reached its capacity at 3,000 clients, said Jane Stern, director of administration. People line up two hours early for a monthly pet-food giveaway.
"We also have homeless people come to the pet-food pantry and the clinic," she said. "And they take good care of their animals. We'll see a guy pushing his dog away in a cart. It's hard. Boy, those animals are the only thing they have."
In New York City, the number of strays brought to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals increased by more than 2,500, said society official Julie Morris. This indicates some owners may be dumping their pets on city streets, she said.