"Brisk Business" At Boston-Area Animal Shelters

In Massachusetts, The Boston Globe reports on the strain being felt by Boston-area animal shelters as home foreclosures are causing increasing numbers of people to give up their pets:

• Across the region, dogs and cats are arriving at shelters in growing numbers, as their owners face foreclosures and head to temporary homes, such as rental units or relatives' houses, where pets are not permitted or may not be welcome.

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• In the last three months, owners displaced by foreclosures surrendered some 30 animals, including a Chihuahua this week, at the Animal Rescue League of Boston. At the Brockton MSPCA Shelter, officials estimate that half of the dozen dogs brought in for surrender this month were from foreclosed homeowners. At the Worcester Animal Rescue League, so many dogs and cats from foreclosed homes have been surrendered, including 10 cats last week, that the director created a policy that permits the animals to remain in the shelter at no cost for 90 days while their owners search for pet-friendly housing. If the owners are not able to find suitable homes in the time period, the animals go up for adoption.

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• Most troubling, shelter officials say, are pets deserted by homeowners in the upheaval of foreclosure and found later by neighbors and strangers who can't relay their medical and family histories.

For more, see Owners lose home, and pets suffer, too.

For more on foreclosures and family pets, go here, and go here. petsII and foreclosures