Reason’s For People Abandoning Their Pets Vary

By The Continuous News Desk

Published: July 6, 2008

BY TIMOTHY CAMA
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER

The list of excuses or rationales for why people abandon their pets is long.

The owner might fall ill and be unable to care for the animal. Or a family has a new child and believes the pet could harm the baby.

Or the dog or cat could be the one with new family additions, further burdening a pet owner.

Add to that the recent downturn of the nation’s economy, and animal owners have a whole new set of worries.

Ginny Mowell, president of the Sullivan County (Tenn.) Humane Society, said the poor economy spotlights two new problems for pet owners: what to do with a pet when one relocates, and how to support a pet when it’s increasingly difficult to support a family?

“People,” Mowell said, “are losing their homes to foreclosures,” which might force a homeowner into an apartment that either doesn’t allow pets or requires hefty deposits.

When folks leave an apartment or house, they sometimes leave behind their cat or dog. Mowell, also an animal cruelty investigator for the humane society, recently has had to rescue a few animals from such situations.

As with other forms of abandonment, Mowell speculated that owners think someone else will find the pets, and that an abandoned house is a better living environment than a shelter.

Even if folks can afford to remain in their homes, feeding and caring for pets is more difficult on ever-shrinking budgets.

“When it comes to feeding your animals or your children, children come first,” Mowell said.

TIMOTHY CAMA is an intern with the Herald Courier and can be reached at or (276) 669-2181, ext. 3385.