Animal cruelty caused by... financial woes?

[Broken Arrow]

Although the story is about animal cruelty, financial woe is being blamed as the possible cause. Huh? How does financial woe cause animal cruelty? There are people in debt that don't do this. The other amazing tidbit about the article is that the husband is a securities broker for Merrill Lynch, and yet, they were still in a massive amount of debt. I guess it happens to the best of them.

Article

[DebbieL]

I just skimmed the article a bit and didn't fully read it, but it sounds more like mental illness to me. Who leaves knee high feces and decomposing animals around their house? Nobody in their right mind.

[scfr]

Sadly, it is true. Animals are being left behind in foreclosed homes:

Foreclosure's filthy aftermath - Buying a House - MSN Real Estate

An organization I support, United Animal Nations, has helped out in some of these cases. They will also sometimes provide grants to pet owners who cannot afford emergency treatment for their pets. [They do other fabulous things as well, but those are the ones that are related to finances.]

If anyone finds themselves no longer able to care for their pets due to financial difficulties, help is available and all you have to do is ask for it.

Contact your local Humane Society, or United Animal Nations at UAN. And feel free to PM me if you can't locate resources in your community.

[getforfree]

Why would they adopt so many pets if they can't take care of it?

[loanstar]

Although the story is about animal cruelty, financial woe is being the possible blame for the cause. Huh? How does financial woe cause animal cruelty? There are people in debt that don't do this. The other amazing tidbit about the article is that the husband is a securities broker for Merrill Lynch, and yet, they were still in a massive amount of debt. I guess it happens even to the best of them?

these are cases where people think they can afford the animal when infact they can't, they don't really mean to be cruel to the animal but being unable to look after it makes it animal cruelty.

[boefixepa]

I can't phathom doing things like that to animals you are suppose to love! There are sooo many options out there if you are unable to take care of your animals. Animals are an expense sometimes VERY expensive, one of dogs gets sick I know it's going to cost me money. It's $100 just to take blood and run it to see what's wrong!!!

If can not afford them, don't be 'mean' to them by owning them. It may not be intentional, but it's animal abuse any way you look at it!

[poundwise]

Debt is not the problem. Foreclosure is not the problem. People are the problem. I don't care if you are in debt, lost your job, and are having to move from your home, you can take the animal to the humane society, at worst. Leaving pets behind or mistreating them is not a financial issue but a character one.

My real worry in this -- if people will do this to their pets, can mistreatment of children, in the name of financial problems, be far behind?

[tabbycat31]

Why would they adopt so many pets if they can't take care of it?

A lot of the time they don't adopt many pets. In many cases, they don't get their pets fixed, and they breed like crazy. One pair of breeding cats can turn into over 10,000 in the course of 7 years (assuming all the offspring are also not fixed)

[LuckyRobin]

This is horrible. If there is one thing I abhor it is irresponsible pet owners. and I'm not even a big animal lover. I mean I like them okay and everything, but I figured out a long time ago that I don't have the energy or time to be a pet owner at this stage of my life. Not having a pet is the responsible thing for me to do, despite the occassional kitten pang I've learned to ignore. I wish people would realize that if they can't care for an animal properly than they should not have a pet. I can't even imagine how anyone who thought they could run a rescue out of their home like that would ever do this for any reason. Mental illness in both partners seems far-fetched, but I can't figure how anyone in their right mind could do such a thing. Not to mention the health issues for themselves.