Donations to charities have been off this year, including during the holiday season. The Salvation Army red kettle program says contributions are down dramatically, while requests for help from the United Way are increasing constantly.
As the major “people charities’’ suffer, countless abandoned pets are sitting in shelters, the byproducts of poverty and collateral damage of an economy they have nothing to do with.
MSPCA-Angell took in about 15,000 animals this year. Approximately 3,000 were either wild animals or sick animals brought in by their owners to be euthanized. Of the remaining 12,000, the shelter has placed nearly 8,500 in homes this year. Many of the remaining animals are in temporary foster care as they wait for permament homes.
“When people get into trouble, animals get into trouble,’’ said Carter Luke, president and chief executive of MSPCA-Angell. “One out of every two homes has a four-legged, or furry, or feathered member of the family. That means, to us, that every time there are two foreclosures, one of them involves an animal.’’
At shelters and humane societies across the state, there are more animals coming in than in years past, and less money is being donated to pick up the slack.
In the end, not every animal can be helped and some will be euthanized, Luke acknowledged.
Younger dogs tend to adapt better, but shelter life takes a different toll on each animal.
“Some pets arrive not knowing what is really happening. They think they are going to a boarding or day-care facility where their owners will be coming back soon for them,’’ said Laurie McCannon, director of the Northeast Animal Shelter in Salem. “Some get so depressed they stop eating.’’
Not just cats and dogs - guinea pigs, hamsters, rabbits, and even birds - are being abandoned. The MSPCA has a beautful orange creamsicle-colored cockatiel named Dolly. She says “hello’’ when you walk in the room (and sometimes when you walk out). She’s about 30 years old. The shelter is looking for a man to adopt her because she doesn’t get along with women.
