Difficult Economy Takes Toll on Furry Friends



Difficult Economy Takes Toll on Furry Friends Posted Friday, March 12, 2010 by Luanne Kadlub Faced with the decision to feed their families or feed their pets, many animal lovers are making the difficult decision to surrender their furry friends. Many others are moving from single-family homes to multifamily dwellings, which discourage — or even ban — four-legged pets from the premises. And still others discover upon bringing home a shelter dog or cat that he doesn’t fit in with the family for any number of reasons. “Needs country home,” “best around adults only,” “severe allergies” and “family moving” are frequent reasons given for finding Spot a new home. If you’ve been thinking of adopting a cat or dog, don’t let emotions take over. It’s important to do your homework to ensure Max or Lucy is indeed in his or her forever home. One of the first things to consider, according to the Better Business Bureau, is whether or not you have the ability to provide for the animal in the long term. Puppies are cute, but they require the most time and patience. And considering that many dogs and cats can live 15 or more years, are ready for that lifelong commitment? Second, you need to be realistic about who is the primary pet provider. While the kids may lay out all the reasons why they should have a pet and promise to take care of it, the fact is that much of the responsibility will fall on your shoulders. Are you ready for that? And third, consider where you will be in one or five years from now. Will you be moving? Making a lifestyle change? If so, are you willing to relocate your pet as well? Ultimately, you need to ask yourself: Can I afford a pet? Annual cost for a healthy dog is between $815 and $1,000. Factor in health issues and that number can easily double or triple. When looking for a family pet, be sure to check out animal shelters and rescue organizations as well as classified ads. If you deal with a private breeder, ask a ton of questions, one of the most important being whether or not the dog can be returned. A responsible breeder will offer to take the animal back if things don’t work out for any reason, and not just for a limited time. This ensures that ultimately the dog finds a happy home. Do you have happy pet adoption tales to share?

Posted Friday, March 12, 2010

by Luanne Kadlub

Faced with the decision to feed their families or feed their pets, many animal lovers are making the difficult decision to surrender their furry friends. Many others are moving from single-family homes to multifamily dwellings, which discourage — or even ban — four-legged pets from the premises. And still others discover upon bringing home a shelter dog or cat that he doesn’t fit in with the family for any number of reasons. “Needs country home,” “best around adults only,” “severe allergies” and “family moving” are frequent reasons given for finding Spot a new home.

If you’ve been thinking of adopting a cat or dog, don’t let emotions take over. It’s important to do your homework to ensure Max or Lucy is indeed in his or her forever home.

One of the first things to consider, according to the Better Business Bureau, is whether or not you have the ability to provide for the animal in the long term. Puppies are cute, but they require the most time and patience. And considering that many dogs and cats can live 15 or more years, are ready for that lifelong commitment?

Second, you need to be realistic about who is the primary pet
provider. While the kids may lay out all the reasons why they should have a pet and promise to take care of it, the fact is that much of the responsibility will fall on your shoulders. Are you ready for that?

And third, consider where you will be in one or five years from now. Will you be moving? Making a lifestyle change? If so, are you willing to relocate your pet as well?

Ultimately, you need to ask yourself: Can I afford a pet? Annual cost for a healthy dog is between $815 and $1,000. Factor in health issues and that number can easily double or triple.

When looking for a family pet, be sure to check out animal shelters and rescue organizations as well as classified ads. If you deal with a private breeder, ask a ton of questions, one of the most important being whether or not the dog can be returned. A responsible breeder will offer to take the animal back if things don’t work out for any reason, and not just for a limited time. This ensures that ultimately the dog finds a happy home.

Do you have happy pet adoption tales to share?

Comments

We adopted two dogs a little over five years ago: Akio, a four-month-old shepherd mix whose litter had been found in the middle of a street, in a bag, and Hannah, an older retriever/shepherd mix who had been with the rescue for over a year after they had found her wandering along the side of the road. Both were adopted from the same rescue on the same day, and Hannah very happily lived out the rest of her last few years with us. The rescue from which we adopted has a policy: take the pet home, and try things for a week; if for any reason the dog just doesn't work (personality conflicts, allergies, etc.) bring them back, no questions asked and no charge, so that they can find a more suitable home. The same goes if circumstances change in the future and you can no longer keep the dog you adopted from them. A week after we adopted our two dogs we actually tried to adopt a third from them, Sunny (a husky mix), but she was not well-suited to a multi-dog family and we unfortunately had to bring her back the next day. For anyone who is considering adoption, I recommend visiting the local pound or contacting a rescue before purchasing a pet, so that ALL these animals can have a chance of finding a loving home. Anyone who needs to give their pet up: My advice is to try to find a trustworthy, loving home for your pet first, and if that fails, contact rescues to see if any can take your pet. Use the pound as a last resort - while some have no euthanasia laws or policies, these are sadly the exception, not the rule. Most shelters are severely overcrowded, and if an animal can't find a loving home within a relatively short time, sadly your pet may end up meeting their ultimate fate.

Comment By Megan K. At 3/12/2010 4:18 PM