The Impact of the Recession on Pets

Pets have always been an “American” tradition. There has been a lot of attention in the news on the human suffering aspect of this recession. No one has gone into depth thinking about or exposing the impact on the many abandoned pets. More people today are abandoning pets because of foreclosures, evictions and unemployment. There are die-hard pet parents that refuse to give up their pets even when facing these situations and they then become the “mobile homeless” population that are living in their cars...or with friends or family because they cannot find housing that is pet friendly—if they are lucky. Some are not so lucky and end up on the street.

There are even horror stories where people are evicted or foreclosed upon and their pets were trapped inside of a home where the pet parent cannot get to them because they are evicted while at work and the locks were changed with their animals left inside. It can take days to get through the legal tape to get access to them and in the meantime they suffer without food or water—scared because they don't know where their pet parents went.

Homeless people stand on street corners asking motorists for money. At night, their homeless dogs sleep with them under bridges or on park benches. These homeless pets suffer parasites, skin disease, malnutrition, heat stroke and exhaustion. When I worked in downtown Philadelphia the homeless people made sure their pets were fed first. However, even when the pet is the homeless person's priority they still do not have a good diet. Some people argue the homeless would be better pet parents if they gave up their pets instead of making them suffer the “life of the homeless”. They say, “Pet ownership comes with far more responsibility than someone with limited means can provide”. However, the same could be said for parenting. Few would suggest ditching your children just because times get tight. Instead of questioning how the homeless or poor can allocate their meager resources in a way that you would not...ask what love means to you. Could you love a pet...or a child until it was financially inconvenient to do so?

I am not judging. I am very sympathetic to everyone in today's harsh economic climate. I totally understand surrendering a pet because you feel they would have a better life with someone else. But I do suggest that maybe we need to do more to help one another so people do not have to make these choices. Landlords need to be more lenient and understand that pets are part of the American way of life. You can have as much damage done to a home from small children as you can have done by a pet. I had three children...I KNOW what they are capable of.

There's a lot of very scary things happening in our country right now. Stock market is like a bouncing ball. One in four homes is currently in foreclosure in the state of Maryland. Jobs are hard to find. We need to put AMERICA BACK TO WORK.

If I were a politician I would suggest the following:

1. Eliminate sales tax to encourage people to shop in the stores

2. Lower income tax rates

3. Prohibit landlords from being able to turn away tenants based on color, religion, family size, or pets. Landlords can request pet deposits, of course.

4. Pass legislation to allow veterinary care and medication as a tax deduction.

5. Give tax incentives to all businesses that source product, services, and employees from AMERICA. Tax penalties if these things are purchased outside the US.

We feel deeply about these problems. Going forward, I propose we only buy and sell products that are exclusively made in the United States...supporting the American work force.

When Andy and I buy new inventory...we are going to ask the questions about where the product was made and “sourced”. It will be more work...but we need to be part of the solution...not the problem.

We need to save ourselves....the good ole' USA...

We need to save our pets...

God Bless America!