My Apr. 10th article about household pets abandoned in foreclosed homes drew great reader response. I received many emails, online comments and calls from individuals looking to help. Others shared their own stories about animals they have found and have been trying to nurse back to health after those pets were left to fend for themselves by cash-strapped owners.
Shari Shiffer-Krieger, executive director of the Cat Care Society cageless shelter for abused and unwanted cats, said calls have doubled in recent weeks. Many of these callers want to surrender cats due to foreclosure or having to move to a new place that doesn’t allow pets. Ironically, donations (cash, food, kitty litter, etc.) have dropped since the economic downturn began.
Shiffer-Krieger talked about one cat in particular, Vanora, which she has been fostering since the feline was found alone in an apartment after its owners were evicted. “Not only did they leave her without any food or water,” Shiffer-Krieger said, “but she is pregnant and will be having her babies in the next week or two!”
Another cat was surrendered shortly after my article was published. It “had been in a empty home since January,” Shiffer-Krieger said. “His family had been evicted, so we are not sure how he was able to eat, but he is a beautiful healthy Himalayan. One of the neighbors continually saw him peering out the window, so she finally was able to reach the landlord and brought the cat to us.”
Such heartbreaking stories illustrate the importance of donating time and energy to nonprofit animal rescue agencies like the Cat Care Society that look after pets when no one else will.
Follow this link to find out how you can help a foreclosure cat. Or contact the Cat Care Society directly by calling 303-239-9680. The shelter’s snail-mail address is 5787 W. 6th Ave., Lakewood, CO 80214.
Families who need to give up their pets also can use services such as Petfinder.com or eBay’s free online classifieds site, Kijiji.com, to help find loving, new homes. People can use Kijiji to post an ad for their pet. Then, when they get a response to their ad, the pet owner can interview/screen the potential adopter before deciding to give their animal to that person. That way, families in distress will know their animal is going to a loving home.
Here’s an example of the type of ad people can place on Kijiji. It was posted by a family in Thornton that must move and is looking for a home for their 2-year-old Pekingese pooch. And here’s a picture of a Ragdoll cat in Parker that also needs a new home.
Joan Casey, program officer with the Animal Assistance Foundation, also emailed me this list of other local animal shelters and rescue agencies that are working on the foreclosure pet problem, and accepting donations.
The Metro Denver Shelter Alliance is a coalition of area shelters and rescue agencies. There’s also The Colorado Federation of Animal Welfare Agencies and The Colorado Association of Animal Control Officers.