More On Family Pets Displaced By Foreclosure

The following links are to recent stories on the stress placed on local pet shelters due to families losing their homes to foreclosure:

Salem, New Hampshire: Shelter houses pets homeless due to foreclosure (Over the past month, those over at the Salem Animal Rescue League have noticed a trend of pets being given up by people who have lost their homes in the subprime mortgage crisis),

Placer County, California: Mortgage crisis is hurting pets, too (In January, at least 20 percent of dogs and cats surrendered to the Placer SPCA shelter came from people who "lost their homes or were having such extreme financial difficulties" that they could no longer afford to care for them),

Vero Beach, Florida: As owners lose homes, so do many Treasure Coast pets (Since September, about six people a month have been saying their loss of housing is the reason they're giving their pets to the Humane Society of Vero Beach and Indian River County),

Fremont, Ohio: Overabundance of animals (Fremont shelter has no room for pets after drop-offs) (The number of animals at the Humane Society of Sandusky County has multiplied since a year ago. And part of the problem is attributed to animals being dropped off in the night. Several of them have been severely malnourished. A local animal cruelty investigator said the recent spike could be attributed to the housing-foreclosure issue that is affecting so many people in the area. "It's an ongoing problem with the foreclosures," Hammond said. "People are finding out their dogs don't fit with them. They're leaving their animals behind."),

Saugerties, New York: Foreclosures force farm animals out (In addition to pets, foreclosures are hitting horses, mules and donkeys. The Catskill Animal Sanctuary in Ulster County has seen a dramatic rise in calls — sometimes five a day — from people looking for a shelter for their large animals. Other local shelters have not yet noticed an uptick in animals because of foreclosures. "Most people don't go into detail — 'The house is being foreclosed on' — that might be more personal than they want to get with me," said Adam Saunders, shelter manager of the Ulster County SPCA, "but the most common reason is, 'I have to move, I can't take the pet with me.' It would make sense that that is happening more because there are more foreclosures going on."). See also, Money woes bring animals to shelter (NY Daily News).

Brentwood, California: Pets a growing casualty of the real estate market (As the real estate market continues to languish and foreclosures become more and more common, unwanted furniture isn’t the only thing being left behind when a mortgage turns upside down).

Illinois: Dogs, cats latest victims of subprime-mortgage mess (Animals lose families as owners lose homes) ("We're seeing quite a few animals being surrendered due to economic reasons, including foreclosure," said Angie Wood, assistant executive director of the Naperville Area Humane Society, [...] "We're probably getting 25 [animals] a week coming to us for those reasons," said Terri Sparks, a spokesman for The Animal Welfare League in Chicago, which works with 53 municipalities on animal-control issues. "It's probably increased a lot in the past six to seven months." Linda Gelb, president of Community Animal Rescue Effort, which works through the Evanston Animal Shelter, said her group has taken in four dogs in the past three weeks because their owners were losing their homes. [...] Authorities around the country in recent months have reported numerous findings of cats, dogs, birds, horses and other animals at foreclosed houses and farms. Among the more notorious cases, animals were found in large number -- three dogs and 20 birds in a house in Lorain, Ohio; 24 horses on a farm in Bixby, Okla.; and 63 cats in a house in Cincinnati. It was too late when authorities got to a foreclosed house in Bradford, Pa., to discover the bodies of 21 Great Danes. The owner on Thursday pleaded guilty to 21 counts of animal cruelty.)

For more on foreclosures and family pets, see Foreclosures & Pets I, and see Foreclosures & Pets II. petsII and foreclosures

Abandonment Of Family Pets & Foreclosures

In Northern California, a recent story in the San Jose Mercury News serves as a reminder that family pets are a continuing casualty in the boom in home foreclosures. Excerpts from the story:

• "People are losing their homes, and animals are the fallout of that," said Cecily Tippery, a Coldwell Banker agent who specializes in foreclosed properties, and now also in rescuing pets left behind. Here in one of the nation's foreclosure hotbeds, Tippery and her colleagues say they have found several pets in abandoned homes -- enough to spread the animal care workload among them.

***

• No one has documented the number of pets turning up after foreclosures, but there is anecdotal evidence of a statewide problem, said Paul Bruce, regional program coordinator for the Sacramento regional office of the Humane Society of the United States. Foreclosures are "leaving the cities with all of the problems, including animals that have been left behind," said Bruce.

***

• For Tippery, the problem has grown into a rallying cry for a "no-kill" shelter in the city. Some of the pets that her agents have found are older or sick or have no veterinary records. Neither Contra Costa County nor Antioch maintain no-kill shelters, and Tippery said the agents are reluctant to send the pets to them. Local rescue groups lack resources to pay for veterinary care. The agents in some cases have paid for health checks on the forsaken pets and developed a network of potential adopters. [...] The pets are considered personal property and cannot be removed [from vacant foreclosed homes] until 18 days after a foreclosure sale. The banks, the agents say, do not want the agents to feed them. They do it anyway.

For more, see Pets becoming casualty of foreclosure.

For more on "foreclosure pets", go here and go here. petsII and foreclosures

More Incidents Involving Abandoned Foreclosure Pets

In Gwinnett County, Georgia, the Atlanta Journal Constitution recently ran a story on the increase in foreclosure pets in the area. A couple of excerpts:

• One abandoned dog Lt. Mary Lou Respess can't get out of her mind is a Chihuahua. He'd been tied up so long, said the Gwinnett County Animal Shelter manager, his collar had gotten embedded in his skin and had to be surgically removed. He's one of hundreds whose owners have left them behind.

***

• Joey Brooks, one of two cruelty investigators with Gwinnett County Animal Control, said he's definitely getting more calls about abandoned pets — usually dogs. He responded to one call about two weeks ago, he said. The power was turned off and so was the water. But three labs were tied up in the back yard. Neighbors had been feeding the dogs in this "decent neighborhood in Duluth," he said, but there was already a real estate sign out front. "That's what's weird," Brooks said. "We'll come across ones where [For Sale] signs are already in the front yard, but pets are still tied up out back." [...] Even that's preferable, Brooks said, to finding former pets trapped inside houses, without food or water or any way to get outside to do their business.

***

• [Homeowner] Steve Miller who lives outside Norcross in unincorporated Gwinnett, said the problem of abandoned dogs hit too close to home last week. On Friday, a pair he believes were left behind by a neighbor killed one of his cats. He'd been calling animal control all week, Miller said. But it wasn't until he reported the dogs had killed his cat Curly that an officer came out and caught one of the dogs, he said. The other dog hasn't been seen since.

For more, see More pets being abandoned after foreclosures.

For more on foreclosures and abandoned animals, see Foreclosures & Pets I and see Foreclosures & Pets II. petsII and foreclosures

"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.

***

• 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.

***

• 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

More Stories Related To Foreclosure & The Tightening Economy

More stories related to foreclosure and the tightening economy from around the country:

• Debt collector drowns Lucas County court with tax-lien foreclosures: Plymouth Park Tax Services LLC, doing business as Xspand, has flooded the Lucas County, Ohio courts with tax lien foreclosures, filing more than 100 in two days - threatening residents during the Christmas season with the possible loss of their homes.

• Foreclosures Don’t Spare the House of God: The era of easy credit has begun taking its toll on even the most sacred of borrowers, religious institutions. Hundreds of churches across the country have received foreclosure notices in recent months, and even more are behind on mortgage payments. Historically, churches were wary of debt, and many old-line congregations have owned their buildings free and clear for decades. But borrowing by churches became more common in the 1990s.

• Kansas Shelters See Surge in Abandoned Horses: Dogs and cats aren't the only animals suffering as the economy takes a toll on pet owners. Rescue groups in Kansas say they're seeing a surge in the number of horses being abandoned, especially older horses. Ande Miller, president and founder of the Hope in the Valley Equine Rescue and Sanctuary near Valley Center, Kansas said the 3-year-old shelter normally cares for 10 to 15 abandoned horses at any given time. But in recent months that number has jumped to between 25 and 30 animals.

• Animal rescue site opens kids eyes: Former major league baseball player Shea Hillenbrand, and his wife Jessica Hillenbrand own and operate Marley Farms, a Gilbert, Arizona animal rescue and petting zoo. The family bought the 25-acre farm last year, and established their nonprofit organization, Against All Odds, with two missions in mind - rescue animals and help disadvantaged children or kids in crisis, Hillenbrand said.

• New Law Means Realtors Responsible For Pets Left At Foreclosed Homes: In Contra Costa County, California, thousands of people have lost their homes to foreclosure, and some of them leave behind the family pet. In response to this continuing trend, state Assemblyman Mark Desaulnier, D-Concord, introduced Assembly Bill 2949 this year calling for real estate agents, landlords and property managers to take responsibility for those abandoned pets.

• Skaters Jump In as Foreclosures Drain the Pool: Pools in abandoned foreclosed homes are being converted into skateboard parks. Skaters are coming to places like Fresno from as far as Germany and Australia. Reportedly, older, kidney-shaped pools are preferred. One skateboarder said his floor and couch were covered by sleeping bags of visiting skateboarders each weekend. Some skateboarders use realty tracking sites like realquest.com and realtor.com to find foreclosed houses with pools, while others trawl through satellite images from Google Earth. On the Web site skateandannoy.com, where skaters trade tips about how to find and drain abandoned pools, one poster wrote about the current economic malaise. “God bless Greenspan,” the post read, “patron saint of pool skatin’.”

• St. Paul looks for squatters in foreclosed homes: One night a week, crews from St. Paul, Minnesota's city inspector's office make surprise visits to foreclosed buildings with a mission: to look for people who might be living there illegally. Inspectors try to avoid evicting people on the spot unless they are chronic offenders. In cases that involve repeat squatters, inspectors may issue a criminal citation, kick out the residents and board up the building.

• Contractors Discover Marijuana Grow House: Lake Mary, Florida police want to find the people who abandoned a suspected drug house. They found pot plants and growing equipment inside a home but no people. Police were led to the house by contractors who were there to do some work. When they went inside, they found bags of pot and growing equipment. Neighbors told Eyewitness News the house was in foreclosure and the last tenants moved out a year ago.

Las Vegas Animal Shelters Maxed Out On "Foreclosure Pets"

In Nevada, the Las Vegas Review Journal reports:

• While local pet owners have long been giving up their animals when they move, the housing crunch has contributed to an alarming increase in what many have dubbed "foreclosure pets." And Las Vegas facilities are overwhelmed with them, animal rescue and shelter representatives say. "It is the No. 1 way we're getting animals right now," says [Doug] Duke, the executive director of the Nevada SPCA. "We've really noticed it in the last three months and it seems to be escalating on a weekly basis."

• Duke says the SPCA has received a goose, ducks, numerous chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs, a potbellied pig and ferrets recently. Cats and dogs make up the majority of the foreclosure pets, though. It's hard to keep track of the numbers because the shelter receives so many calls, Duke adds, but he estimates 150 animals a month are coming in because their owners give them up or leave them behind when they lose their homes. Las Vegas is among the leaders in the nation in foreclosures.

For more, see Overwhelming Situation: Innocent Victims (Animal shelters full of pets that are abandoned during home foreclosures).

For more on foreclosures and abandoned animals, go here and go here. petsII and foreclosures

NBC Nightly News On Foreclosure Pets & Domestic Livestock

NBC Nightly News ran a piece last Saturday on the recent increase in the numbers of pets and domestic livestock at pet shelters and animal sanctuaries. Among the primary reasons, it is believed, are foreclosures and other economic pressures. To view the NBC report, watch Animal House.

For more on foreclosures and abandoned animals, see Foreclosures & Pets I, and see Foreclosures & Pets II. petsII and foreclosures

Add Horses To The List Of Those Losing Their Homes To Foreclosure

In Minnesota, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:

• The ever-worsening story of foreclosures in America now counts among its victims the family dog, the pet cat and even the farmer's horse. [...] "I'm getting skinny horses in here that people have walked away from," said Drew Fitzpatrick, director of the Minnesota Hooved Animal Rescue Foundation, based in Zimmerman, Minn. It used to be that for every abandoned horse there was a story of mental illness, divorce or cancer of its owner, said Fitzpatrick. "Now it's bankruptcy and ARM foreclosure. Rural America is really starting to get punched."

***

• The problem has been exceedingly acute for horse owners, who were already facing high feed costs because of rising commodity prices and the recent elimination of horse slaughterhouses in America. That market -- a federal ban recently closed the last three such slaughterhouses in the United States -- once provided horse owners with an option that paid about $600 per horse, when there was nowhere else to turn. Reports have cropped up of horses wandering the Florida Everglades and coal mines in Kentucky, where owners too poor to care for them have set them free to forage on their own. A horse owner recently euthanized more than 80 horses, most of them Shetland ponies, in Grey Eagle, Minn., northwest of St. Cloud, because of rising feed costs and her own poor health. [...] Fitzpatrick, of the Hooved Animal Rescue Foundation, said she took a call this week from the sheriff in Morrison County in central Minnesota, who reported a herd of horses running free in the area. "He just said it looks like another foreclosure," she said.

For more, see Four walls no more for 4-legged friends (As more Minnesotans lose their homes to foreclosure, many are finding they're also forced to give up their pets and livestock).

See also, Pioneer Press: All the Dying Horses: Neglect cases soaring in Minnesota (Horse neglect and starvation are on the rise in Minnesota, the result of a suddenly sour economy. Some experts call it the Hobby Horse Syndrome. Drew Fitzpatrick, who devotes her life to rescuing the animals, is less polite) (when this link expires, try here) for the same story).

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

More From The Periphery Of The Foreclosure Crisis

The following links lead to an assortment of stories related to foreclosures from around the country:

• Gillette man found guilty for threatening letters: A Gillette, Wyoming man was found guilty of 6 counts for threatening a federal judge and other officials over the seizure of his home. Prosecutors say Laurence Eustelle Wolff in August sent threatening letters to a judge, a federal prosecutor, an IRS official and a sheriff. The letters threatened the four with a deadly standoff if anyone tried to seize his home. Court records alleged the 60-year-old didn't pay federal taxes between 1988 and 1995 and owed more than $613,000 in back taxes. In July, a judge ordered the foreclosure of Wolff's home to pay off the taxes.

• Man who killed self in standoff faced foreclosure, court records show: A Fredonia, Wisconsin man who killed himself after a five-hour standoff with police at his wife's home was "a very angry man" who was going through a divorce and, along with his wife, had just been foreclosed on the day before, court records show.

• Owners vandalizing homes after foreclosure: A Little Elm, Texas homeowner facing foreclosure reportedly got into a "cash for keys" bidding war with the foreclosing lender's representative. The owner turned down $2,000. On the day before the sale, the owner decided to take the cash. The lender's rep told him to take a hike - it was too late. The owner proceeded to vandalize the home.

• Local realtors help abandoned pets (Take steps to ensure "No Pet LeftBehind"): In West Springfield, Massachusetts, the "No Pet Left Behind" project created by local realtors is working in conjunction with the Animal Shelter Renovations to raise money to build a no-kill shelter in western Massachusetts. Their goal is to place the animals into permanent homes and to save the pets' lives. "These animals are being left behind in these abandoned homes to fend for themselves and in a lot of cases they're starving, dehydrated, sometimes they're being found dead. We are really trying to work hard to save these animals," said realtor April Cantell.

• Exotic birds fall prey to foreclosure crisis: In Seattle, Washington, a real estate agent discovers two bedraggled cockatiels nearly starved to death. Many owners try to take their exotic birds to an animal shelter but reportedly, the exotic birds are difficult to care for, and most shelters are not equipped to house birds because they are built to handle mainly dogs and cats, who are also being abandoned in large numbers because of foreclosures.

• Vacant home fires a ‘sign of the times’ (Home foreclosures could be behind increase in suspected arsons): Officials believe a Gainesville, Georgia vacant house fire, which melted vinyl siding on an occupied home next door, was caused by a human act. The two prevailing theories are that a homeless person or neighborhood kids started the fire, either intentionally or unintentionally. "This could be a sign of the times to come," Deputy Fire Chief Jerome Yarbrough said. He fears that with a deepening recession, more homes left vacant from foreclosures and evictions will be burned by vagrants or vandals. And when firefighters show up, they don’t always know if there are occupants who need rescuing. "I have concerns because this type of property fire here is the kind that gets firefighters hurt," Yarbrough said. "I expect to see more of these if the economy gets worse."

• Carbon monoxide victims living in foreclosed home expected to recover: All eight people poisoned by carbon monoxide from a gas generator running in a home near Redwood City, California where the power had been cut off are expected to recover, authorities said today. They were among 12 members of an extended family and friends who were renting in the home that authorities said was in foreclosure proceedings.

• Man admits to meth lab in vacant duplex: A man faces between 20 and 50 years in prison for breaking into a vacant duplex in Lafayette, Indiana and setting up a methamphetamine lab.

• Foreclosure vandalism on the rise: In Killeen, Texas, fire marshals suspect a group of vandals set a vacant home on fire. The suspects reportedly kicked down the front door of the foreclosed home, shattered the windows and set the living room floor on fire. According to Killeen fire marshals this isn't the first time a foreclosed home has been vandalized. Five foreclosed homes have been vandalized in Killeen this month.

• Tempe police keep watch on vacant homes in foreclosure: The foreclosure crisis has become so big even the Tempe, Arizona Police Department is now concerned. Patrol officers have been given a list of more than 300 foreclosed homes in the city. The patrol officers have been asked to keep an eye on the homes and to look for anything suspicious.

• Humane Society finding new homes for 54 horses: In Mt. Hope, Arkansas, there has been high interest in helping the Humane Society of North Central Arkansas find homes for the 54 horses from Scott Valley Dude Ranch, which is in foreclosure.

Some Central Florida Pet Shelters "Bulging At The Seams" From Foreclosures

In Central Florida, the Charlotte Sun-Herald reports:

• A little known part of the fallout from the record pace of foreclosures of homes has been the impact on pet owners. "For the last two months, we've received an unprecedented number of telephone requests and e-mails from people pleading for us to take their dogs and cats," said Elise M. Matthes, president of Sarasota in Defense of Animals. "It is heart-wrenching. Most of those who contact us are losing their homes and moving into rentals, where pets are prohibited. They are severely distraught people because there is no "no-kill" shelter or sanctuary in the county that will take pets," Matthes said. "Most area shelters are bulging at the seams with excess dogs and cats."

For more, see Pets becoming mortgage foreclosure victims.

Go here for more on pets and foreclosures.

One Group Of Victims In Need Of "Foreclosure Rescue"

The Dallas Morning News recently reported on the plight of one group of victims in need of foreclosure rescue:

• Some of the saddest victims of the home mortgage meltdown don't walk away when their home goes into foreclosure. Real estate agents who sell foreclosed homes say they sometimes find pets left behind when the owners clear out. They come to the rescue of starving cats abandoned in vacant houses and desperate dogs chained up in overgrown back yards. "I keep dog food and cat food in my car, and leashes," said Connie Zetterlund, a Coldwell Banker agent who sells foreclosed houses. "I'm running out of people to give animals to." Along with left-behind furniture, vandalism and damage done by copper thieves, she and other foreclosure agents occasionally must cope with the pets that people cast off when their houses wind up in foreclosure.

For more, see In foreclosures, pets are often abandoned with home.

Go here for more on pets and foreclosures. copper metal theft zebra

Homeless Foreclosure Pets In San Diego

In San Diego, California, KNSD-TV Channel 7/39 reports:

• The impact of high interest rates and home foreclosures is making its way into animal shelters, according to a local humane society. According to officials at the Escondido Humane Society, they are receiving 20 to 30 calls a day, from people who need to give up their pets because they're losing their homes in foreclosure. People moving from houses to apartments often can't take their dogs or cats with them, so many are ending up at local shelters.

For more, see Foreclosures Leaving Pets Homeless. Go here to watch KNSD-TV video report, Foreclosures Separating Families, Pets.

Go here for more on pets and foreclosures.

Reptiles, Horses, Potbellied Pigs, Exotic Cats Not Immune To Foreclosures

In Hesperia, California, the Victorville Daily Press reports:

• More than 200 reptiles worth an estimated $90,000 were found abandoned in a freezing, filthy room attached to a garage in Hesperia. Most were alive, though weak. Some had died from the cold or dehydration, including two gila monsters. “This is absolutely the biggest reptile rescue I’ve ever done by far,” said Joel Almquist, owner of the non-profit Forever Wild Exotic Animal Sanctuary in Phelan.

***

• Though the investigation by Hesperia Code Enforcement and Animal Control is still underway, Almquist suspects the reptiles may be the latest victims of the foreclosure epidemic sweeping across the High Desert. “I’ve been getting a lot of calls like that lately,” he said. Not long ago, a real estate agent called Almquist after finding six potbellied pigs abandoned at a foreclosed property. [...] The same thing happened with six sickly thoroughbred horses that a man brought by a few months back. [...] Almquist has also gotten calls from Norco Animal Control asking him to take an African Serval Cat, and Fish and Game about an alligator found in a foreclosed home in Fontana.

For more, see 200 reptiles abandoned in Hesperia.

For more on foreclosures and abandoned animals, see Foreclosures & Pets I, and see Foreclosures & Pets II. petsII and foreclosures

North Miami Home In Foreclosure A Death House For Over 50 Pets

In North Miami, Florida, WPLG-TV Channel 10 reports:

• Animal control officers removed two more mangy, malnourished and neglected animals -- this time cats -- from a woman's North Miami home Tuesday. It was the same home of Beverly Prady, who was arrested and charged with animal cruelty after 78 sick, crippled and bloodied dogs were removed from the residence Monday. Prady had close to 90 animals living with her in a dilapidated house at 990 NE 10th Ave. Animal control officers said 90 percent of those animals had to be euthanized.

***

• Neighbors said Prady might have had mental problems. Neighbors said Prady paid off the home years ago and that it simply fell apart around her. However, according to civil documents, Katline Realty was foreclosing on the property. Katline Realty owner Charlie Klar told Local10's Rob Schmitt that Prady recently ran out of money and borrowed $147,000 from him against her house.

• Schmitt asked Klar why he would approve a mortgage considering the home's condition. "I basically like to lose money," he said. "I've made so much of it." [North Miami Mayor Kevin] Burns said the city would investigate the foreclosure and whether Prady was taken advantage of possibly because she's mentally unstable.

For the story, see Most Animals Removed From Home Euthanized (North Miami Woman Charged With Animal Cruelty).

See also, Miami New Times: Dozens of Dogs Die (A tale of 78 abused pets and two peculiar people).

For more on "foreclosure pets", go here and go here. petsII and foreclosures

More On Abandoned Pets & Foreclosures

In Vallejo, California, the Times-Herald reports:

• A holiday surge in unwanted pets is filling kennels and creating a need for more animal adoptions, a Vallejo-Benicia Humane Society worker said Wednesday. "During November and December, we usually see a surge in the number of surrenders," said Peter Wilson, director of humane services at the no-kill shelter, which includes 20 kennels for so-called adoptable dogs and 30 for cats. [...] While other cities and counties have reported more abandoned animals in the wake of the foreclosure crisis, Solano County animal rescue workers said there is little evidence of a direct correlation locally.

For more, see Unwanted pets fill kennels in Vallejo.

For more on "foreclosure pets", go here and go here. petsII and foreclosures

"No Paws Left Behind" Web Site To Help Foreclosure Pets Find Housing Options

DS News reports:

• A few short months after Integrated Mortgage Solutions President Cheryl Lang conceptualized the idea of starting a Web site to help pets left behind in foreclosures, her new nonprofit Web site No Paws Left Behind (www.NoPawsLeftBehind.org) has officially launched to give families with pets a place to find security for their furry friends.

• Lang designed No Paws Left Behind as a 501c3 nonprofit organization, where visitors can type in their zip codes and find local animal shelters and other housing options for the animals they can’t afford to take with them. Lang also has created an online petition that encourages citizens to ask policy makers to change laws that are currently delaying the animal rescue process when dealing with foreclosures.

For more, see No Paws Left Behind Web Site Officially Launches.

For more on "foreclosure pets", go here and go here. petsII and foreclosures

Humane Society Establishes Foreclosure Pets Fund

From The Humane Society of the United States:

• To help keep families and pets together through foreclosures and financial crisis, The Humane Society of the United States has created a new grant program for shelters and rescue groups. Pets have been among the voiceless victims of the current economic downturn. Animals have been left behind in foreclosed homes, and shelters are reporting that families are struggling to keep and feed pets. To ease the current hardships, The HSUS is offering grants to animal shelters, non-sheltered rescue/adoption groups and animal care and control agencies to help establish, expand, or publicize services or programs that assist families in caring for their pets during the current economic crisis.

For more, see The HSUS Launches Grant Program to Help Families Care for Pets Through Tough Financial Times.

Ohio Man & Neighbors Save Foreclosed Cincinnati Cat House And Its 62 "Residents"

WKRC-TV Channel 12 in Cincinnati, Ohio reports:

• "Three months ago, the owner of 251 Strader in the East End moved out, but left behind more than 60 cats. The bank foreclosed on the property and it was facing the wrecking ball. But ... the house has been spared and so has a neighborhood facing a serious cat problem. 251 Strader is still a little rough, but it's a long way from where it was in May, abandoned, except for 62 cats living on both floors and in the attic."

Michael Bolan, who purchased the house from Fannie Mae after it got stuck with it after a foreclosure and had to unload it, had quotes from three wrecking companies to demolish the house. He stuck it out instead and, with the help of some of his new neighbors, cleaned the house, successfully eliminated the horrific smell (Bolan found a Cincinnati-based company, OdorXit, whose products are designed for such challenges), and, with planned renovations, can be inhabited. The cats and kittens have all been saved with the heroic efforts of some animal rescue groups, veterinarians, and others, although more than 40 of them are still looking for homes (those looking to adopt or donate can check out ForeclosureCats.org).

For more, see (stories no longer available online):

• Cat House Gets New Lease On Life,
• East End celebrates homes, garden, rescue (Cincinnati Post),
• Horrific 'cat house' cleaned up (Cincinnati Enquirer).

Go here to view Channel 12 TV report.

Go here for more on pets and foreclosures.

More Trouble With Abandoned Animals In Vacant Building In Foreclosure

In Troy, New York, the Troy Record reports on a dangerous situation that recently confronted a code inspector, an animal control officer and a local cop when inspecting an abandoned building in foreclosure that had an approximately 85-pound pit bull and a puppy in an upstairs bedroom with the door closed:

• When Animal Control Officer Kevin McDonough and Police Officer Chris McDonald tried to get in the bedroom, the dog attacked, and they were forced to put it down ... . McDonough took the puppy to the Mohawk & Hudson River Humane Society shelter in Menands. It is unclear why the dogs were in the abandoned building, but authorities suspect the building was being used for an illicit purpose, possibly drug related, and the dogs were for protection.

• There was so much dog feces all over the place [Code Inspector David Sheeran] said he did not even inspect the rest of the building. Crews secured the building and pad locked the doors until they can find the owner. Crews may be forced to don suits and masks and clean out the building, Sheeran said.

For more, see Police shoot attacking dog abandoned in Troy building.

Go here for more on pets and foreclosures. foreclosure side effects zebra

Helen The Pig Found Living Alone In Foreclosed Barn; Now Recuperating

The Express-Times recently ran a story on Helen the Pot Bellied Pig, a 5-year-old swine that had been living alone in a barn on a 10 acre property containing the barn and a farmhouse that a bank foreclosed on. Reportedly, the farm's former owner had been cleaning her shelter, changing her water and feeding her a steady diet of dog food, pizza, doughnuts and frozen waffles. Her diet not only undoubtedly spoiled Helen's figure, as she weighed in at about 20-30 pounds overweight (120-130 lbs. vs about 100 lbs.), but the excess weight is causing her some physical problems. With the help of the Pig Placement Network, a nonprofit pet pig rescue and adoption service, it is expected that she'll take off the excess weight, hopefully overcome her health problems, and be ready for adoption in about a year. For more, see:

• This not-so-little piggy cries wee, wee, wee on her diet, and
• This little piggy gets some care - Bucks County (Pa.) Courier Times.

Go here for other posts on Helen The Pig.

For more on potbellied pigs, see the North American Potbellied Pig Association (NAPPA).

For another story on the health problems of a pig who was allowed to get overweight, see Woman Claims Pet-Sitter Made Her Pig Fat (A woman wants abuse charges filed against an acquaintance who was pet-sitting for her potbellied pig and allowed the animal to get fat. Michelle Schmitz said her pig, Alaina Templeton, weighed 50 pounds when Schmitz left her with a co-worker who offered to care for the animal in February, when Schmitz went on medical leave to recover from ankle surgeries. Nine months later, the pig weighed 150 pounds and it took veterinarians 4 1/2 hours to surgically remove the animal's collar, the Winona Daily News reported).

Go here for more on pets and foreclosures.