The financial crisis suffered over the last decade resulted in a large number of pets abandoned for economic reasons. Typical of this group are pets left behind when the owner’s home is foreclosed. Some of these animals were left on the property itself, abandoned in the wild or on the streets; and sometimes dropped off at an animal shelter.
People often drop animals off at a shelter and claim they are moving. However, it is thought the numbers increased rapidly due to high foreclosure rates. As homeowners run out of time and options, they often fail to rehome their pets and leave them behind.
Pets are not able to survive in the wild without resources, which means they are at a disadvantage whenever they are left without humans to watch over them. More often than not, they are discovered after the foreclosure process when the realtor or bank enters the home. Animals lucky enough to survive until they are discovered are often in poor condition due to lack of resources such as food and water.
These animals are then classified as “foreclosure pets”. Currently, the exact number of “foreclosed pets” is unknown.
Many of them are euthanized due to lack of space and financial resources for these animals. Shelters unable to raise additional funds to provide for the increased number of incoming animals have no choice but to euthanize them, sometimes within days.