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Foreclosure Houses Affect Not Just People but Pets Too

May 20, 2009

The devastating effects of foreclosure houses has not just stopped on homeowners but spread to their pets. Most homeowners who succumbed to foreclosures and abandoned their properties leave their pets behind.

Homeowners who lost their properties to foreclosures and their jobs have opted to bring their pets to the Humane Society facility because it is an animal shelter with no-kill policy. The facility serves the Florida counties of Alachua, Baker, Clay, Putnam and St. Johns.

The increase in the number of abandoned animals left behind in the facility and the decline in funds have forced the nonprofit agency to look for ways to keep its operation open. It reduced the number of its employees’ working hours and plans to let go seven of the 14 remaining employees in the facility within two months.

Shelter co-supervisor Kristi Adams said that unless the facility sees an immediate increase in adoptions or donations, the nonprofit agency has no choice but to close the operation.

She said that if donations to the shelter continue at their current pace, the annual budget of the facility will decline from $430,000 to $250,000. The animal shelter needs to boost its finances within six months to remain operational.

The nonprofit agency is relying on its thrift store, adoption fees and donations as its sources of funds. Adams explained that the shelter’s current financial trouble is driven by the surge of foreclosures and layoffs in the area.

Often, people who lose their properties to foreclosure drop off their pets at the shelter. This causes the overpopulation of animals at the shelter. At present, the facility is housing nearly 200 pets, an increase of 60 from the average number of animals it usually handles. Some animals have been with the shelter for about three years.

Furthermore, animal drop-offs far outnumbered the adoptions at the shelter. And because of this, the shelter is no longer accepting new pets, according to Adams.

One measure being considered by the Humane Society to ensure that its shelter remains operational is to close the facility to the public for at least three days per week. Thus, the facility will limit its service by almost 50 percent, according to Perry Smith, Humane Society’s board president.

The agency is also intensifying its fund raising efforts to help the shelter continue its operation and overcome the impact of the foreclosure houses in the area.

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