Special offer

Innocent Victims of Foreclosure

By
Real Estate Agent with Your Home Free

Bailey and PeanutI I have a soft heart for dogs.  It saddens me when I see a lost dog on the street and if I have the time, I try to help find the owner.  I recently did that with "Twinkle" who was wandering the streets of my neighborhood.  Luckily, Twinkle hadn't wandered too far from home and she was reunited after an hour or so.

I recently read an article in the Dallas Morning News that made me want to jump in the car and rescue more than one dog.   As families can't afford to stay in their homes, many are forced to give up their companions.  Operation Kindness is a no-kill shelter in Carrollton that has seen a large increase in animals being dropped off and a quarter of them are due to foreclosure and eviction. 

Many North Texas shelters are also seeing a decrease in animal adoptions, partially due to rising costs of everything and maybe pets are considered a luxury.  Overcrowding at shelters, in general, is nothing new.  There was a feature on Oprah several months ago about the Fort Worth Animal Shelter and it mentioned that anywhere between 20-40 animals were euthanized A DAY!

I remember feeling so sad about all of the pets that were lost, abandoned or found dead after Hurricane Katrina.  Animals are almost defenseless and can't do much in these types of situations.  We can help ourselves,but what about our pets?

My husband and I rescued our lab-mutt, Peanut, from the SPCA five years ago.  Peanut is the one on the right. Bailey, also a rescue pup, is her good friend.  They are both absolute sweethearts and when we decide to get another dog, it will be from a shelter.  If you are looking for a pet to love, check out your local animal shelter before anything else!  We may not be able to help all families save their home, but maybe we can save Fido!

Joan Whitebook
BHG The Masiello Group - Nashua, NH
Consumer Focused Real Estate Services

Unfortunately, this is happening all over America -- Cats and dogs are being left behind.  It is important to try to adopt these loving pets and give them a new home.

Jul 23, 2008 02:05 AM
Rebecca Schrader
Competitive Insurance of Dundee - Dundee, FL

We just intercepted a hound dog headed for the SPCA.  She is the best!  After a month she has doubled in size, but what are you going to do?

Jul 23, 2008 02:08 AM
Rob & Jeannie Steward - Realtors®
RE/MAX Advantage - Nashville, TN
We Work TWICE As Hard For You! - Ashton Group

Such A Goood Boy!

I can't go down this road. In no time we would be on the local news... "Husband & Wife Realtors Rescue Hundreds Of Dogs". Our little Pom Casper (pictured here) would get lost in the pack.

Yes, this is where we miss Bob Barker reminding everyone on a daily basis to spay and neuter their pets. Many people don't know that their favorite breeds have animal rescue associations that specify in one particular breed. There are rescues for Poms like Casper here, or retired Greyhounds that come from the dog tracks. Many of the Greyhounds (the vast majority) are euthanized after a short 2 to 3 year racing career. The most common thing that you hear about Greyhounds is that they only know crate to track to kennel to crate to track to kennel, etc. Often when people get them home, the Greyhound doesn't know how to climb a staircase or play with a toy. But they will learn and are sweet loving companions for the most part.

Dogs offer us unconditional love, are always happy to see us, and have souls. There are know bad dogs, just bad people. But in this case, pets are helpless victims of the foreclosure crisis. And we hadn't heard of this aspect of the subprime debacle wreckage. Thank you for bringing this to our attention Tricia.

Jul 23, 2008 02:51 AM
Cheri Smith
Prudential Gary Greene, Cypress TX - Cypress, TX
Realtor Prudential Gary Greene

Someone dumped a dauschund on our dirt road last month. She was clean and healthy and looked like she'd recently had pups as she was full of milk to bursting. I stopped the car told my daughter to get her and she's been with us ever since. This happens monthly now. I'm so tired of it. It used to only be a couple of times a year and now it's all of the time. I can only handle so many animals.

It;s so irresponsible to dump your animal in the hopes some farmer will adopt it. Usually they end up with a pack of wild dogs. Their lives are not what these people think. They end up sick and starving if they don't get ran over first.

It's more humane to take them to a shelter of any sort even one that may euthanize them. In my opinion you have an obligation to find your pet a home if you can no longer keep it.

Jul 23, 2008 06:23 AM
Tricia Hoffmann
Your Home Free - Highland Village, TX

Thanks so much for contributing to this topic.  I am glad to see I am not the only one who feels this way.  I can't imagine leaving my pet on the side of the road or at the property!  I hope that this helps people think twice about the feelings dogs and cats have. 

Jul 24, 2008 09:26 AM