The #1 reason pets are surrendered: “I’m moving and I can’t take my pet.” But, why?
One of the most common reasons why people surrender their animals is: “I’m moving and I can’t take my pet.” In 2014, across the six Los Angeles Animal Services shelters, a total of 296 cat owners and 835 dog owners cited moving as the reason for turning in their dog or cat. The other most common reasons that followed were having no home at all (claimed by 20 cat owners and 72 dog owners) and landlord issues (245 cats and 955 dogs came into the system due to this problem.) Over the years, we’ve heard many passionate, animal-loving people say that these owners “dumped their pets in the shelter.” But I can’t help wonder — did they?
Please consider that many of the families that we serve earn less than $20,000 per year for a family of four. Consider that the average family earning minimum wage will spend 141 percent of their income struggling just to meet the most basic needs of food, shelter, and clothing. Now consider the choices they have to make — not necessarily that they want to make — when it comes to their lives and their animals.
Surely there is a percentage of people who never connected with their pet in the first place, and who should never should have acquired the pet to begin with. Perhaps moving was just an excuse used to surrender their animal to the shelter. However, based on our experiences at the South LA Shelter, this isn’t the case the majority of the time. We know differently. We see that most people do care. And they’re doing the best they can.
Princess and Bruno are a good example of what we do. They were brought into the South LA shelter by their owner in tears. He never thought he would find himself in the situation he was in — out of work, with poor credit, having lost his home, and with no prospect of a permanent place to live. Their owner was basically homeless when a generous friend offered him a room to rent, on one condition: He could not bring his dogs. Fortunately for this man, our counselor Amanda was able to find foster homes for Princess and Bruno, and with the help of our volunteers Jennifer and Mia, we were able to find them loving forever homes. We were all too glad to help. But the point is, if their owner had not been in the financial state he was in, these two dogs would have never needed to be rescued. They had a loving home to begin with.
According to Congresswoman Maxine Waters,“We have known for quite some time that there are widespread generational and systemic factors that exacerbate the racial wealth gap.” So why isn’t this income gap part of a larger discussion, especially when it comes to planning programs that save pets’ lives? Why aren’t we focused on narrowing the gap, which would benefit both people and animals?
Many of you, our cherished supporters, donated to help Nicole, her daughter […]