In N.C., pets are losing their homes amid economic turmoil

By Connie Sage

Correspondent

Mary Bass stood in front of the metal cat cages stacked three high.

"This one was turned in," she said, pointing to George, a 2-year-old orange cat. "And this one," as Maggie, a calico, pawed at her cage. "And this one," she said, as Jasmine, a tortoise kitten, meowed.

In what Bass and other animal shelter workers say is a growing trend, people - especially the elderly - are giving up their pets because they can no longer afford to care for them.

"They're prioritizing right now and choosing food, medicine and school supplies over pet care," said Bass, director of the Tri-County Animal Shelter for North Carolina's Chowan, Gates and Perquimans counties.

A dog breeder brought in 13 standard poodles ranging in age from 3 months to 2 years last week because it was too costly to keep them, Bass said. A dozen of the dogs were taken to poodle rescuers in North and South Carolina and New Jersey; one was adopted locally.

Not all dogs and cats are so lucky.

Unless claimed or adopted out, the animals will be euthanized, Bass said last week, including a German shepherd, two Jack Russell terriers, a black Lab and a fox terrier.

"Come on baby," Bass cooed to a Pomeranian that had the run of the animal shelter. Found on the highway, the dog had been groomed recently but no one claimed it.

"I don't think we've ever seen it this bad," said Bass, who has been working with the shelter for 14 years.

There's an increase in animals and a decrease in donations, in adoptions and in volunteers who can afford to drive to the shelter in Tyner, 15 miles from Edenton, she said.

So far this year, Bass said, 2,202 animals have been euthanized for the three counties, compared with 2,000 for all of last year.

The Portsmouth Humane Society has adopted a no-kill policy for its animals, instead choosing to work with owners to keep more pets in their homes, said executive director Tereza Marks.

"We're definitely seeing an increase in the number of animals coming in from people saying they're down on their luck," she said. "There's a lot more people who have been out of work for a while and now they're at the point where they have to give up the animals."

When a woman said she couldn't afford to feed herself and her two dogs, the shelter provided 100 pounds of dog food "until she can get back on her feet," Marks said.

The Norfolk Animal Care Center expects to take in as many as 1,000 more dogs and cats this year than the 5,300 pets brought to the city shelter in 2007, said kennel supervisor Jake Roos.

"Perfectly healthy animals are being surrendered for financial reasons," he said.

The Norfolk SPCA is a privately funded no-kill agency that also is seeing more requests from owners to find homes for their pets.

"We're definitely seeing an increase," said director Kim Sherlaw. "In the last three weeks alone, at least five animals were surrendered" by owners who said they could no longer take care of the pets. Even some who have bought purebred animals are taking them to the SPCA if they can't afford the added expense of medicine for them, she said.

"I either feed my two children or I feed my dog," one woman said when she brought her dog into the Outer Banks SPCA last week, said Denise Lambiotte, director of Dare County's animal shelter.

"We're starting to see an increase in having to give animals up because of economics," Lambiotte said. "It's not a huge increase, but the economics here on the Outer Banks are certainly desperate for low- and middle-income" families.

"It's the economy mainly," said Julie Strickland, shelter manager for the SPCA of Northeastern North Carolina in Elizabeth City, which serves Pasquotank and Camden counties.

Strickland said she's seeing more and more people who have lost jobs or who have had to move into less expensive housing where pets are not allowed.

Angie Antonucci, who works at the Virginia Beach SPCA, said pet owners may be able to pay for basic animal care but not if the pet has to have medical treatment.

"I love the animals," said Tri-County's Bass, who wears a second hat as the Chowan County animal control supervisor. She and her husband have five dogs, four cats and three aquariums of fish. She has traveled to Maryland, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and North and South Carolina to take dogs to rescue centers - nearly all on her own time and her own nickel.

"I can't take care of them any more," is a common reason pet owners give when they bring in their cats or dogs, said Dare County's Lambiotte. "People treat animals as disposable commodities."