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Article Archive > Helping out a paws cause Helping out a paws cause TINTON FALLS - Karen Leipzig pulled the bright red school bus into the Associated Humane Society of New Jersey's Monmouth County Branch parking lot late Tuesday morning. Her mission was to deliver the six large bins and overflowing bags of pet food and supplies that took less than one month to collect. The donations came from a pet supply drive held at Middletown's five elementary schools as well as through her business. "We're hoping people become aware of the problem," Leipzig said. As the owner of Dogs on the Farm & Cats Too, a Middletown pet care facility, Leipzig and her sons Jason and Arthur noticed a disturbing trend during the stalled economy - an increased number of pets entering shelters because their owners faced foreclosures or no longer could afford them. "Normally, we are slow at this time of the year," said AHS chief animal control officer and shelter director Bruce Sanchez. "But with so many people losing their homes and not able to find apartments that allow pets, it's making it very, very, hard." With 80-plus dogs, some 140 cats, birds, rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs, pot-belly pigs, chickens, roosters, swans and ducks among their menagerie, the AHS's staff of 18 works to provide a temporary home for the animals. Animals that aren't brought in due to animal cruelty are surrendered primarily because their owners cannot afford to feed them, let alone pay for the average $500 annual vet bills. "It's really heartbreaking because we watch them go through separation anxiety," Sanchez said. "They'll lay next to the door of the cage waiting for their owner to return, and after a few days, when it's clear they won't return, we see a depression set in." Reports nationwide of foreclosure pets escalated last year during the height of the recession, but millions of animals never will be reclaimed. "Bringing an animal to a shelter should be the last resort," said Buddy Amato, chief law enforcement officer for Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "People have to reach out to family members and friends for help. The worst thing to do is to run right to the shelter, because the shelters are overcrowded." Currently, the Eatontown-based nonprofit houses close to 400 cats and a couple hundred dogs, Amato said. More than the surrender of animals, the tight financial times have meant a quadrupling in animal-cruelty cases, Amato said. On average, 100 calls per month are being investigated. "People just can't afford the basic fundamentals for the animals," Amato said. "Most fights in a household are over money, and people are taking it out on the animals." While no pet food bank exists per se, there are area shelters like the Associated Humane Society and MCSPCA that will share donations with animal rescuers. "There an infinite amount of animals and a finite amount of homes," said Sanchez, who suggested one way to prevent families from giving up their pets would be if area veterinarians provided care pro bono or on a sliding scale to families in need. "I would hope the animal hospitals would lend a hand, because turning the animal in is not the answer," Sanchez said. |