Left Behind: The Problem of Abandoned Pets (PHOTOS)

Every year, irresponsible pet owners abandon animals that they no longer want. The reasons may be financial or practical, but either way, these innocent animals suffer. They may also cause harm. Abandoned animals overrun shelters and wreck havoc on non-native ecosystems. These nine fascinating stories of abandoned pets show why it is so important to always find unwanted pets a good home.

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Beagles

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Over the past few years, several towns on Long Island have had problems with packs of feral beagles. The beagles are bought as hunting dogs, but abandoned by their owners if they don't catch enough rabbits. This year after hunting season, the Kent Animal shelter took in forty of the abandoned pups. While beagles are normally friendly dogs, they can become aggressive towards other animals and people due to cold and starvation.

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Over the past few years, several towns on Long Island have had problems with packs of feral beagles. The beagles are bought as hunting dogs, but abandoned by their owners if they don't catch enough rabbits. This year after hunting season, the Kent Animal shelter took in forty of the abandoned pups. While beagles are normally friendly dogs, they can become aggressive towards other animals and people due to cold and starvation.

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Comments

[Lory Jones]

11:15 AM on 04/07/2010

These are incredible stories. I think once pet insurance (http://www.petinsurance.net) becomes more popular, people will not need to make such decisions at least for financial reasons.

[Fever911]

02:08 PM on 03/03/2010

Everyone please check out http://www.dogsdeservebetter.com,
a site devoted to unchaining dogs. The founder, Tamara Thayne, has been repeatedly harassed by law enforcement for trying to help these animals.

http://www.dogsdeservebetter.com/thaynetrespassing.html

[EdenSprings]

06:38 PM on 03/02/2010

You know, I read stuff like this and wonder 'Where are the articles about all the great pets that got adopted? The 3-legged dog that found a new home or the neighbors that fostered a soldier's pets until he came back from his tour of duty?

Sorry, but I'm sick and tired of being made to feel that somehow by owning an animal, I'm personally responsible for all the bad stuff that happens and, no matter what I do, it seems that bad stuff just continues to happen.

I'm beginning to wonder, with all the hundreds of millions in donations that HSUS, PeTA, ASPCA and other organizations have raked in over decades, why are these problems still here?

I guess that despite claiming they're 'experts' they must all be really incompetent. And, because these 'experts' aren't fixing anything, I'm going to stop listening to them AND stop wasting my money by continuing to support their failed policies and stupid ideas.

Think I'll take my dog for a walk and then donate some money to nokilladvocacy.com because they've proven they know what they're talking about and they don't try to blame their incompetence on the behavior of others.

[Fever911]

06:44 PM on 03/04/2010

Why are these problems still here? Because PEOPLE SUCK!

[BannedNBoston]

11:00 AM on 03/01/2010

Thats the CHANGE YOU CAN BELEIVE IN!!
Economy is getting worse while we spend 1 TRLLION on Empire.

[rf dude]

10:30 AM on 03/01/2010

Always wondered what happened to that smart-aleck

Taco Bell doggie...

[Fever911]

08:11 PM on 02/28/2010

So many heroes here, I have tears in my eyes! Unfortunately, once you start chipping away at the subject of animal abuse, you'll find a massive iceberg lurks below the surface. This story is just the tip. Go to petabuse.com, see what is going on in your state. It's truly shocking and sickening, the cruelty of humans.

[NYC123]

05:10 PM on 02/28/2010

I think animal pet lovers are two face! They slam Micheal Vick for dog fighting but just find it "very sad" that hundreds of thosuands of dogs are abandon annually by dog owners; resulting in a million plus cats and dogs euthanized annually b/c of the abaondonment factor! -- coupled wtih the pipeline of inventory (puppy/kitten production) during peek season (i.e., Xmas) that goes unsold. And when sold many times find them abandoned later -- followed by euthanization if an owner cannot be found. This is an outrage of the highest magnitude!

[yemaya]

05:46 PM on 02/28/2010

what? what does slamming animal abuse have to do w/stray animal populations?
If you want to hate animal rights advocates, ok but please use logic and reasoning. your statement makes no sense at all.

I am against animal abuse and animal abandonment. I am for responsible ownership of pets. I have no idea where you think these are mutually exclusive.

?????

[AnimalLover6]

04:34 PM on 02/28/2010

"The Last Will and Testament of Silverdene Emblem O'Neill"

written by the playwright Eugene O'Neill, in honor of his beloved dog.

http://www.eoneill.com/texts/blemie/contents.htm

[AnimalLover6]

04:31 PM on 02/28/2010

Should animal abusers have to register like sex offenders?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/comments_blog/2010/02/poll-should-animal-abusers-have-to-register-like-sex-offenders.html

I voted "yes." They get a slap on the wrist, and then they're out again, picking up animals from the pound or shelter. Happens all the time. If this nation and its citizens are serious about preventing animal abuse, there needs to be a central database that any shelter or individual citizen can access when doing a background check on potential adopters.

[QueenCeleste]

01:50 AM on 03/01/2010

Yes, absolutely! We must protect animals from abusers.

[Jpwill]

02:45 PM on 02/28/2010

This is all very sad, and as a dog lover I feel their pain, but pets seem to be an something of an Anglo Saxon obsession. Doesn't it make more sense to have animals in the house that pay their way?

http://www.greenexplorer.ovi.com/getinspired/north-america/usa/pecks-and-the-city/

In the rest of the world this seems to be the norm

[AnimalLover6]

04:49 PM on 02/28/2010

No, not really. The evolution in the human-animal relationship is called "progress." The fact that much of "the rest of the world" still has a medieval and brutish attitude towards animals hardly makes it an attitude we should imitate.

[QueenCeleste]

01:54 AM on 03/01/2010

It's sad that much of the world lags behind the U.S. and Europe on this. Pets, or companion animals, are not an obsession for many of us; they are stray dogs or cats who need a home and love. I am happy to give them that and expect nothing in return. Oh, maybe a purr or lick on the hand.

[rivahcat]

12:06 PM on 02/28/2010

All of my kitty babies are adoptees. Duchess was an adult cat being offered for adoption at a humane-society display outside a department store; I fell in love with her blue eyes, and brought her home. We've been together for 16 years now. Foxy was a neighborhood kitten here in our apartment complex that my boyfriend rescued; she's been with us nearly 3 years. Domino was a lost, frightened, tiny kitten found mewing in the parking deck where I work; I lured her out with food and brought her home, intending to find someone to take her... but I fell in love (after all, she did show up on my birthday--what a perfect gift!) and here she's been for nearly 2 years. Finally, there's our big boy Shadow, one of the most loving guys I've ever seen; we think he must have gotten separated from a very loving owner somehow. Yeah, it's crowded, but we're two happy people owned by 4 amazing kitties. And our "crazy cat person" kit is complete! ;-)

[darkmark]

12:05 PM on 02/28/2010

we've got a cat whose mother was killed and the kitten didn't get the training, socializing, that she needed, she can't stand other cats. so she lives in the garage. she also had a problem with using the carpets as a toilet. i make sure i sit with her and pet her for at least 10 minutes a day. we let her in the house for a while each day also. i was tired of the house smelling like a toilet. another cat that adopted us and a feral cat that won't let anyone come near her/him we feed on the deck in the back of the house. humans can be quite shallow about our responsibilities towards our fellow animals and each other. but at the same time there is a large minority or even a majority of us that actually care for cats and dogs and other animals. we should feel good about that at least as much as we feel sad about those that treat our fellow creatures without respect.

[AnimalLover6]

04:54 PM on 02/28/2010

We rescued a feral at 6 months of age. She was wild and absolutely terrified of humans. I ensconced her on our back porch in the dead of winter, and spent two months in intensive socialization. She went from hissing and clawing at the sight of a human to purring in any available human's lap. Took awhile, and a whole lot of work, but she now lives comfortably indoors. She's still a little skittish, but a real love bug. We rescued another stray that she initially didn't like, but since I introduced them slowly, she grew to love him. Sadly, he spent only a year with us. He had FIP and we had to put him down. Worst feeling ever.

[cheeseandsnark]

06:15 PM on 02/28/2010

FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis, for those who don't know) is a hideous disease--the worst. I remember that while I was pregnant with my son 20 years ago, the tiniest little lavender point Siamese kitten showed up at my door and I took him in. I thought he was only about three months old. It turned out he was six months old and had FIP. He ran really high fevers. He loved to sleep next to my head. His body was so hot that my face would sweat. I tried to give him as good a life as possible. When he died it broke my heart.

[Vickster]

11:42 PM on 02/28/2010

There are ways to rehabilitate your anti-social kitty. The trick is to get her to spend a few minutes each day doing something she enjoys while in the company of your other cats... something like eating turkey, tuna, chicken livers and other real food. That way she may learn to associate a positive experience with the presence of other cats. I rescued an anti-social kitty a few years ago (there were some serious cat fights for a few weeks), and since my other cats were already in the habit of gathering together for real food twice a day, I just worked her into the routine. (I make a point of calling each cat to his or her dish, always in the same order, as I spoon out the meat.) And while she still gets snitty with the other cats once or twice a week, she also curls up with them each day for an afternoon nap.

As for the other issue, you should have one more litter box than you have cats as a rule. (I play it safe, keeping eight litter boxes for my six cats.) Those litter boxes should also be placed in no fewer than two rooms so one cat can't pull a power trip on another cat by preventing him (or her) from using the litter box.

[Naithom]

11:07 AM on 02/28/2010

During the early winter the people who had lived across the street moved out suddenly leaving a black and white cat. "Tux", as we named him, is mostly feral but we didn't care - we couldn't stand the idea of him being cold and hungry. We put cat food out for him every day and I made him a little house out of a storage bin and an old comforter we had around the house.

He's still feral but he will knock on the door for food and let us pet him slightly on the head. I hope by spring we can do a capture and release to have him checked out medically and fixed.

[yemaya]

05:01 PM on 02/28/2010

good for you Naithom! You have probably saved Tux's life!

[Naithom]

06:47 PM on 02/28/2010

Thanks, Yemaya. I figure that he just needed a little help during a cold winter, not unlike all of us during this economic climate.

[madisonhack]

10:15 AM on 02/28/2010

Look at this face.

My name was Twister. I lived a long and happy life as a rescued Cairn/Schipperke mix. I was smart and sweet beyond belief and the joy of everyone that met me. Every child and most of the elderly that lived in my two neighborhoods knew my name even though they didn't know my owner. There were stories among children that I could do flips and other tricks. My owner wished I would have at least mastered the command "come". I was a total urban legend. I passed away last January from acute pancreatitis, but I beat several life-threatening illnesses and cost my owner a small fortune in what can only be described today as love money. I have been succeeded by a new face, a rat terrier named Buddy who will someday, hopefully, fill out my collar that now hangs on the fireplace mantle next to an old, stale dog biscuit that I never got around to eating. Someday you will get to meet Buddy, but for now I am the face you will either love or hate as my comments keep coming.

Adopt a friend - we're the best kind.

[my2girls]

10:09 AM on 02/28/2010

9 years ago we adopted a homeless black lab/pit bull mix. He filled our home with love and loyalty. Sadly yesterday we had to put him to sleep because of a tumor that could not be fixed by surgery.

We are missing him terribly and our hearts are broken. We know in time.... when our hearts have healed a little we will rescue another lovable, goofy dog that is in need of a home.

[yemaya]

05:03 PM on 02/28/2010

Very sorry for your loss My2girls. here's a quote I love

" "If there are no dogs in Heaven,
then when I die I want to go
where they went."

Will Rogers, 1897-1935

[my2girls]

05:18 PM on 02/28/2010

Thank you yemaya! :)

Just amazing how these animals touch our lives and our hearts.