It's not only humans who are suffering the effects of the current economic crisis.  The number of stray and abandoned animals in North America is growing at an alarming rate, according to recent reports from the US and Canada, as owners become homeless, or cannot afford to feed or home their pets.

In Michigan alone , The Detroit News reported that a growing number of pet cats and dogs are being left behind in dumpsters, foreclosed homes, and parking lots all over town by people who lost their jobs and can’t afford to take care of them. In other cases, people have had to sell their houses and move into apartment buildings where pets aren’t allowed.

 

The American Humane Association believes that about 8,000 houses are being foreclosed daily and between 15,000 and 26,000 pets may be left out in the cold.

 

In a recent survey conducted by Petfinder.com , statistics show that 84 per cent of animal shelters and rescue groups have more pets on their hands because of the poor economy, and 37 per cent of the organizations said that the number people coming in to adopt pets has gone down in the past year because they can no longer afford them.

 

Some of the shelters are attempting to help people out by implementing pet food assistance programs. Some organizations are donating pet food to seniors because they found some elderly people were feeding their pets with delivered meals that were meant for them.

 

The animal groups are trying to get people who have lost their homes to find apartments that take animals instead of just leaving them behind to take care of themselves.

 

On a strange flip side of the same problem, it seems that people in Saskatoon, Canada, are stealing kittens and puppies from animal shelters because they can’t afford to pay the adoption fees or the fines for pets that were picked up as strays.

 

Joan Kobylko of the Yorkton Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said she has seen people stuff the small pets under their coats because of the high costs of getting the animal out of the shelter legally. She added that many people think the animals should be given away free.

 

Somebody recently broke into the Yorkton SPCA building overnight and took a beagle-shepherd cross from its kennel. The dog was picked up as a stray a few days earlier andKobylko feels the dog’s owner may have taken it back.

 

The shelter has been robbed several times before, both during and after hours, and if anybody is caught stealing a pet the animal is taken back andKobylko takes down the culprit’s licence plate number in case they come back.