Well clearly, the dogs should've paid more attention to their finances before taking out a mortgage they couldn't afford to repay.

I've had to drive away two packs of stray , obviously abandoned, dogs here is Roswell, ATL in the last 3 weeks.
It's worrying with two small kids in the house.

Have not seen this sort of stuff since the 70's.

this is just plain cruel on the part of the owners. animals don't have to be that expensive if you don't buy them ridiculous gadgets, hyper-expensive pet food, grooming, etc.

"Why-are-we-caring-about-animals-when-PEOPLE-are-losing-their-homes" comment in 3...2...

Fantasy- A pack of starving dachshunds finds the still conscious body of Angelo Mozilo (CEO of Countrywide) and has him for supper.

Just kidding, Angelo- It was a pack of Rottweilers...

@gnappulicious:
In fairness, tho, it might have less to do with owners buying the animals expensive crap, and more to do with owners being forced to move into apartment complexes or other rental properties that don't allow pets.

@apotheosis:

i know....i did feel a little bit guilty after writing that. i do have a lot of sympathy for people who have lost their homes due to shady companies like countrywide. when helpless animals are drawn into the picture, it makes me feel even worse.

Huge animal lover here (and have rescued many animals) and already knew about this. It makes me furious.

I just wonder about the choices people are making and is giving up an animal the absolute final cost cutting choice they have? Already turned off cable? Prepaid cellphone for emergencies only? No morning Starbucks?

Generic dog or cat food is pretty darn cheap. You can buy a 40 lb bag of (crappy) dog food for under $10.00.

I think peoople are people are giving up animals as a convenience rather than a neccesity.

and the USA continues it's slow unstoppable decline into losing "world superpower" status.

Ugh, just awful.

We have a Dog, and a Cat, and don't spend $1000 a year unless they have an unexpected illness (which is rare though did happen this year).

We love our animals, and having taken responsibility for them don't consider them a "luxury". When you take up the care of an animal you are making a commitment. I feel terrible for the people who are in a position where they are forced to abandon that commitment, but more so I feel worse for the Animal.

@SkokieGuy:

I think peoople are people are giving up animals as a convenience rather than a neccesity.

@SkokieGuy: No offense, but arent they a convenience? I wouldnt say a dog is a necessity, but maybe thats just growing up in NYC.

Animals that you have taken as a pet are not a luxury. They are a commitment that can be kept with a minimum of expense with some common sense (baring "exotic" animals).

Science Diet is not a requirement. Animals can survive on rotten food, and so the cheaper foods available from your grocer (while not the best) are still nutritious enough to keep them as healthy as most Americans.

Wow, talk about timing.

Just like these owners couldn't afford a house but got it anyway, they made a committment to owning a pet when they shouldn't have. Now it's tragic that the pets are the ones to suffer.

@ahwannabe: Well, honestly a pet is a luxury item unless you live on a farm in which case they can have uses (cats killing mice in the barn, dogs rounding up sheep etc.) so it's not surprising people are giving them up.

Yep, if I have kids I will be one of those mean awful parents who will NOT under any circumstances be buying their kid a cat or dog.

@TakingItSeriously:

um, last i checked, most americans weren't healthy. ;)

@TakingItSeriously:

the cheaper foods available from your grocer (while not the best) are still nutritious enough to keep them as healthy as most Americans.

Pets are not luxuries. We have two small dogs and we don't spend anywhere near $1000 a year on them. We have money set aside for medical emergencies. Oh and we rescued them both!
Shouldn't have bought a house you couldn't afford and shouldn't have bought animals you couldn't afford.

People are bad.

@battra92:

honestly a pet is a luxury item unless you live on a farm

if I have kids I will be one of those mean awful parents who will NOT under any circumstances be buying their kid a cat or dog.

@SkokieGuy: I'm an animal lover too. Hell 2 of my 5 tv channels are animal channels.

I don't care how bad it gets, you would see me walking the streets homeless w/ my dogs. Wouldn't give them up for the world.

I was watching this very thing on the news. Correct me if i'm wrong on some of the facts i'm not 100% following this stuff.

The news said basically homeowners are leaving their beloved pets in the homes alone without food/water or proper care, I believe they said the animals were property of the house, i could be wrong here cause its the media (go figure), and when shelters and other officials come to see if the pets are there, the animals are usually dead or starving to death.

$1000/year cost to upkeep a dog ? ya right, less then that, the first year is pretty right because of cost of vet and shots but after the shots are down upkeep lowers to meer $100, depending on food prices and toys.

Also, I hear walmart gives away dog food that has damaged packaging.

@ahwannabe: "Why-are-we-caring-about-animals-when-PEOPLE-are-losing-their-homes" comment in 3...2...

Because people suck today are narcissistic beyond belief.

Children are luxuries too.. but that doesn't prevent poor people from having a lot of them.

To many dogs... worldwide food shortage... two birds one stone (or two girls one cup depending on your view point)

/sarcasm

Seriously owning an animal is not like owning a boat. An animal is a commitment and you should at least have enough guts to put the thing down if you can't take care of it rather then just dumping your problems on others. People who do that are no better then Countrywide.

This is most likely due to people being forced to move into apartments or rental housing. That is a vastly different scenario than deciding between fido and Starbucks. Most people consider pets like part of their family so giving them up has to be a major act of desperation or no other options.

What really annoys me is that this is a real sign of desperation in enough people that animal shelters are seeing it. All of this crap that is happening is going to start having some larger negative effects at some point. I expect to see suicides go up in the next year at the very least.

buying a pet = luxury
keeping a pet != luxury

also, 2 cats don't cost more than a few hundred a year, even with vet bills, toys, the occasional treat and science diet.

I have three cats - two from the humane society and one is a stray that adopted us. We don't spend $1000 a year on the three together. I will admit that we are not completely up to date on shots and vaccines, but they live indoors and no other pets visit our house. Two of the cats were already fixed, and we had to get the third one fixed.

I hate it when people ask me if I want another cat because their cat just had kittens. I'm sorry... were you breeding your cat? No. You just didn't get it fixed because you didn't want to/were lazy/couldn't afford to. Yes, kittens are very cute, but when my local animal shelter houses an average of 120 cats, I think it would be best not to let your pets go around having litters like... well, like, animals.

@nataku83: Yeah, but cats are evil

@Bladefist:

I don't care how bad it gets, you would see me walking the streets homeless w/ my dogs. Wouldn't give them up for the world.

Here's the worst dog foreclosure story I've heard:

An owner who knew he was going to get foreclosed on got two huge dogs and filled the bathtub completely full of food and water. The dogs lived there for a month making a disgusting mess before they died. They died and sat there for a few more weeks. The house was so bad the guy couldn't clean it. I don't what the bank ended up doing, but I'm guessing they didn't turn a profit on that one.

yeah if you have a cat or a dog, search for housing a bit harder. it's just cruel to get an animal and not have a contingency plan for it. i lived with someone who brought home more than 20 animals without talking to me about it. it cost about $250/mo and i was doing the caretaking despite not having brought them home. so when i left, all those poor critters had to go to other homes (and i was the one finding new homes for them not the person who got them in the first place) and it broke MY heart.

don't get a pet if you aren't sure you're willing to go through hell and highwater to keep it with you. people that don't spay animals piss me off. people that breed them after buying a purebred from a pet store (puppy mill) and not doing any sort of actual research into how to breed something not just produce puppies are disgusting.

it does not cost $1000 for average pet care. sick, geriatric, accident maybe, but one healthy pet $20/mo food, $100 for shots and check up which you can even get free sometimes through shelter events.

what dipshits.

Hmmm, I just did the math and I spend almost $1,000 a year on dog food alone, but that is because I have 2 rather large dogs. If it came down to my cable tv, cell phone, or someother non-necessary item and the dogs I would most certainly choose my dogs. Seems to me the people are giving up their pets shouldn't have been pet owners in the first place. When you adopt an animal you are taking responsibility for it, for life not just till you happen to get tired of it or can't afford it anymore.

@apotheosis: I view animals as possessions. People have value to me. In my philosophy the sum of all animals from Chimps to Amoeba combined don't equal the value of a diseased junkie living on the streets.

I'm not saying kill all animals or abuse them, I'm just kind of saying that when it comes down to housing or animals, well it's a no contest.

I have 3 dogs.. and I'd go homeless before I let them go to anyone but immediate family. At this point my remorse for people in shitty loans in waning, you can only fuck up your finances so much before you need to suck it up, stick to a shoestring budget and take care of yourself AND the living things that depend on you.

@SkokieGuy: I'm an animal lover, too, but you can't just consider the cost of food. Finding a rental that allows dogs is very hard and usually substantially more expensive. If people are forced out of their homes, they have to go someplace, and they may not be able to find a place that allows dogs.

@battra92:

I view animals as possessions.

I think nataku83 summed it up nicely; the decision to purchase a pet might be a luxury, but once that pet's yours, it's a family member, and it's your responsibility. There's an emotional connection there (or at least there should be). All the more so because unlike that diseased junkie you mention, the pet doesn't have any say in the matter with regard to its fate.

That being said, I admit to a logical inconsistency with regard to the "living creature" thing. A goldfish is a living creature but if it comes down to a choice between goldfish ownership and being homeless, the goldfish is gonna move in with the Ty-D-Bowl man.

Call it a prejudice towards mammals, or something. Cats and dogs are just different.

@fluiddruid: substantially more expensive? i remember moving my cat around the country with me and the highest pet deposit i paid was $250. that's not substantial. there are plenty of places that have a one time pet deposit. i've never actually seen a place that charges more per month for a pet and there are almost always alternatives than just dropping a critter off at a shelter and saying "good luck" as you wave goodbye.

@nataku83: Buying a Pet may be a luxury but keeping a pet is definitely NOT a luxury. It is a responsibility.

Once you have obtained an animal (whether it is through rescue, purchase, gift, etc), it is your responsibility to care for the animal - or to find it a proper home.

No Exceptions!

@Myrddraal: put them down? wtf?!? no...if you cant afford to have a pet then dont get one. same with children. why arent people euthanizing their fucking stupid kids?? itll save a shitload of money.

@camman68: word. my cats mean more to me than anything in the world. ...the only reason im even bothering to stay alive, really.

@apotheosis: It's preferable that he doesn't have any pets. I will like him much more, than people that let their pets breed and then throw them on the streets.

A pet is an long ''relationship'' and there are always alternatives in the meantime.

@silverundertone: It's still better to euthanize than just throw the poor pet on the street.

a couple observations:

1. people with pets tend to live longer and have happier lives.

2. You can tell a lot about a person based on their attitudes towards animals.

@battra92: You are still responsible to those who you tamed. If you can ''dispose'' of an animal on a simple budget tightening, then you're not a person that can be trusted on other matters.

And to rephrase you : ''No possession in the world equates to a life of a breathing, living animal, that relies on you in every way.''

You just reminded me of a freak that went around poisoning people's dogs for fun in the neighborhood. His justification : ''They are possessions, they should not exist.'' *hands still itching with the desire to pitchfork the bastard*

And my dog's life is more important for me than the life of some drug dealer (still I didn't adopt a drug dealer, so that all pretty relative).

@battra92: But most people aren't deciding between pets and housing. They are deciding between pets and venti lattes. Pets and an iPhone plan. Pets and premium digital cable. You dump your cable, nobody gets hurt. You dump your dog, and you're leaving a burden on the already financially strapped rescues and shelters, which isn't fair.

@Victo: its better to find them a decent home, or just not get one in the first place.

i dont understand the mentality of people who just throw their pets away. its beyond cruel, and once the animal is a part of your idea of family..i believe it should be there to stay. ill never get rid of or euthanize my pets, regardless of the situation.