Oil Spill: Gulf Pets Abandoned As Owners Can No Longer Afford To Care For Their Animals (VIDEO)

When people think of the animals affected by the oil spill, tragic images of crude-coated sea turtles and pelicans come to mind. The unseen animal victims of the oil spill are the hundreds of Gulf pets that are overflowing area animal shelters, as their owners -- left unemployed by the BP oil spill -- are forced to give them up, unable to afford caring for them.

CNN reports from Louisiana, showing the heartbreaking scene of countless puppies and kittens torn from their families, and facing euthanasia if homes are not found. The Louisiana SPCA is even forced to send animals to other states, as there just isn't enough room to house all of the orphaned pets.

While the SPCA recently set up a donation-based fund to support out-of-work fisherman with pet food and veterinary care , they still don't have enough money to help everyone. Ana Zorilla of the SPCA thinks that BP should pay to support pets that are being forced out of their homes as a consequence of the oil spill. For families already confronted with the loss of their livelihood and struggling to support themselves as a result, having to say goodbye to the family pet is just "one more blow on top of everything else," she says.

GO HERE to help Gulf pets stay with their families.

WATCH the unseen animal casualties of the Gulf oil spill:

Comments

[Simonsaid]

05:28 PM on 07/21/2010

If I had to surrender my pet, I would be a complete mess! I would never forgive myself for the rest of my days. I would thinking about him or her all the time.

The thought of it just makes me cry.

Kudos to those who are helping out in all the areas of the animals needs.

BP and Halliburton should be paying for the animals care in every way!!

[JVM Fan]

02:10 PM on 07/20/2010

This is so sad....!! These animal organizations are getting very smart. There is a new pro-animal site geared towards the press--totally free--that is massively distributing their pro-animal video. The video is showing up on MTV, NBC, etc. A CNN story that just aired is at http://freeanimalvideo.org/about

[aweissnet]

11:28 PM on 07/19/2010

I'm very glad people are kind enough to take them to the SPCA. Most of the pets I have inherited in my life were dumped at the side of the road (sometimes with babies) ... I am finally pet free, and will not get another at this point in my life.

That is a horrible thing to do. Euthanasia is kinder.

And BP should pay, of course, but won't.

[hobo62]

04:13 PM on 07/19/2010

Wonder how many pets were surrendered because there was no extension of unemployment benefits?

[johnjohn1234]

04:38 PM on 07/18/2010

People. Don't ever get a pet if you think there is ever a chance you would abandon them. There is a special place in he!! for people who do this.

[sistaelle]

11:51 PM on 07/18/2010

There's a difference between "abandon" and "surrender".. Surrender is someone who has no longer as the resources to care for the pet.. most people are only a few paychecks from that distinction.

[Kay Skylar]

03:55 PM on 08/02/2010

Anyone who is a few paychecks away from not having the resources to care for a pet has absolutely no buisness having a pet. Routine pet care, not to mention pet medical emergencies are expensive. If you aren't in a financial position to be prepared for unexpected expenses you should not take on a pet.

[rollingrock]

04:14 AM on 07/20/2010

congrats! you win the award for dumbest post of the year.

[Sup1977]

12:15 PM on 07/18/2010

Unless I was in the Donner party, I couldn't imagine ever giving up my cats, even if times were hard. We love them dearly and they are part of our family. They deserve to stay part of the family and be loved and cared for just as much as any other member of the family. Taking on the responsibility of having animals is one that should not be taken lightly, and if you don't think you will be willing to do what it takes to care for your pet when times are hard, you should not have a pet.

[bklynsparrow]

11:29 AM on 07/19/2010

I feel the same about my cats too. It's interesting though that this is happening, when you remember that with Katrina, people were so adamant about not abandoning their pets that some died rescuing them or refusing to leave them. I think th Red Cross finally had to come up with some sort of solution to their no pets rule because people wouldn't leave their flooded homes without their animals. Volunteers went around in boats picking up animals as they could. It was a major heartbreak, and only proved that our animals are more than just "pets," they're family.

[DAndre Martin]

02:04 AM on 07/24/2010

my thoughts exactly!

[Simon Woodward]

09:00 AM on 07/18/2010

Get a grip people. There is always a choice on how to spend your disposable income. Maybe spend a little less on beer and coffee and a bit more on pet food - every interview televised with people 'suffering' along the coast always seems to have them in a bar or cafe with a full drink in front of them. Doesn't cost much to feed a cat or a dog. I know. I have had pets all my life, even when unemployed, and adjust my spending accordingly

[johnjohn1234]

04:40 PM on 07/18/2010

Funny how so many people have money for new tattoos and cigarettes and beer but don't even feed their children properly.

[Simon Woodward]

04:54 PM on 07/18/2010

Yep - I even paid for a new tattoo, but my dogs didn't go hungry as a result!

[aweissnet]

11:31 PM on 07/19/2010

Yes, funny that very poor people seem to have money for cigarettes or booze.

I've wondered about that. Cigarettes are very expensive!

[bklynsparrow]

03:52 PM on 07/17/2010

I donate when I can. Being unemployed has made me cut down drastically on what I give to shelters- and I am a sucker for cats. I have 8- all rescues, plus my landlady and I feed the ferals outside. I can't bear to see animals suffering. I am going to donate to the fund for Gulf Pets and hope they can raise more funds. I'm working on some medical issues but as soon as I am able, I want to volunteer at a shelter too. My only worry is that I'll wind up bringing even more home! One of the things I love about my neighborhood is that people take care of the feral cats here. I always seee people putting out food for them. And this is a poor neighborhood- but their hearts are very big.

[booki]

04:07 PM on 07/17/2010

u take care of yourself! u r fanned....
and all your beautiful neighbors too.

[bklynsparrow]

04:37 PM on 07/17/2010

Thank you booki! YOu would love my guys. four of them have varying degrees of blindness because of the horrible eye infections they had. My vet was great helping me out with them- but they suffered so much. Their eyes were swollen to the size of marbles, completely out of the sockets but they were so beautiful I wouldn't put them to sleep. Today they are a joy.

[healthanalyst]

01:56 AM on 07/19/2010

find a no kill shelter that will work with you on the ferals, you might be able to find vets who will help on the ferals, check if there is a local vet school who needs animals for students to work on. they're all supervised. you really need a good TNR program if you have a feral population in place. ferals are adoptable, friendly, check with local no kill for help.

[bklynsparrow]

11:24 AM on 07/19/2010

Thanks healthanalyst. I have already taken the TNR course but I will check and see if there is a local vet school. We do have no-kill shelters but not too many that are close to me, but I'll check again. I do know that ferals arefriendly and adoptable- that's how I managed to wind up with 8 :-)

[DaMojo]

02:31 PM on 07/17/2010

This is already happening all over the country. And it will get worse now that unemployment has been cut to so many and the job situation is getting worse. Veterinarians are going out of business because people can't afford to take their pets. Three abandoned dogs in my neighborhood and I'm feeding four cats outside that obviously used to belong to someone.

[hypnotoad72]

07:13 PM on 07/18/2010

Agreed - and the economy is grossly out of control.

[healthanalyst]

01:57 AM on 07/19/2010

been going on for years. did foster care, our rescue person was non stop, 24/7. some people do things I could never do, she did.

[floodberg]

12:49 PM on 07/17/2010

FOLKS, I THINK WE NEED TO TURN UP THE VOLUME ON THIS ONE.

Calling BP is a great start and emailing your reps is another. Posting online helps, but let's be honest, what the public thinks doesn't matter as long as BP sells its oil on the market. Obama and Congress are letting them act as a government-in-fact in the gulf...so that tells you a lot.

JPMorgan/Chase is their biggest investor, and really the Wall Street Giant who controls Federal Reserve and our government. Call your reps and ask if they've accepted money anytime in the last two years from JPMorgan/Chase, its evil affiliate GS or associated Citi (who brought us that minicrash.) (Check their opensecrets.org file first - they may lie.)

They won't answer the question in the negative, if they answer it at all. That will tell you what side those reps are really on - and tell them if it's not ok with you, and whether it will change your vote in November.

Don't vote out of fear of the other guy or 'opposing party'...this is as scary a scenario as I've ever seen, and I remember the Cuban Missile Crisis.

[SilentSolidarity]

11:54 PM on 07/17/2010

"I've been having problems with my profile comments - they all inexplicably disappeared (6000+) for 2 weeks, as did the little thingy that runs across the top that says 'add a friend'. Got my comments back about a week ago, but that thingy hasn't come back. I also have to scroll through pages because none of my 3 browsers (firefox, chrome, IE) will let me use comments to go directly to a reply. Maybe it's my system, so I'll do the maintenance stuff I skipped for the last month, and see if that cures it. I've already got an inquiry about add as a friend in to tech."
Hey, I have the same problem. I asked around, Some people seem to have similar problems. It's the website. They changed stuff and the site goes crzy for a while. Did you write HuffPost Community about your problem?

[floodberg]

04:51 PM on 07/18/2010

I did, and this morning (Sunday) I found 5500 of them, some new some old had disappeared again. Shot tech off an email, told them I didn't care about anything else, this must be a system collapse from a couple of months ago, and asked for my comments back, and just got them back!! I also suggested they do a post for tech problems, so we can see if our individual ones are unique, or part of a pattern.

[aweissnet]

11:34 PM on 07/19/2010

The anchor function has disappeared also, for me. The only way I can find a comment and reply, is to go to "share" and then reply. It's rather arduous, and I hope they get this fixed. It's the only way we can converse or engage back and forth. Maybe it was intentional and they don't want conversations, they just want random postings.

[Tim Paynter]

03:30 AM on 07/17/2010

There is always an excuse for leaving the family pet to fend for himself. There is no excuse for leaving the family pet to fend for himself. Let's take the no excuse to all of those who insist they had the right to turn fido lose

[leajazz]

01:57 AM on 07/17/2010

Get them off their butts and make them pay Ana.

The unemployed in my area have been dumping cats on my road for 2 years. The shelters are full. I guess word got around that I'm a sucker for cats.

Luckily my old horse doctor donates his time to our local Humane Society to spay/nueter and give rabie vacs to barn cats free of charge. Otherwise I couldn't keep and feed them. They would all end up dead.

[aweissnet]

11:35 PM on 07/19/2010

How do you know that it is the unemployed dumping them?

I used to take in dumped animals also. It's how I wound up with most of my pets. But I didn't assume the unemployed dumped them. I actually had no idea.

[Tommygun264]

07:36 PM on 07/16/2010

Even if you can't afford to adopt, even if you don't live in the Gulf area, Take some time once a week - whether weekday or weekend, morning or afternoon, to stop by your local shelter and visit the dogs and cats there. Most shelters have "get acquainted" areas for visitors to walk and play with the animals. Even if you can't take one home, you can take the time to give these animals the attention and exercise they need, plus it will help lighten the load for volunteers who would otherwise have to spend their time exercising the animals. It may now sound like much, but sometimes simply seeing a dog or cat out playing happily rather than laying there looking pitiful in a pen with poop on the floor can spark interest in others who are their looking to adopt. It also feels good to give these poor animals, many of whom will not make it out, some much needed attention and to make their remaining time something other than a slow, hopeless wait.

[leajazz]

01:25 AM on 07/17/2010

F&F

[leajazz]

02:05 AM on 07/17/2010

...and donate a bag of food if you can.

[Left of Right]

03:48 PM on 07/16/2010

This funding should definitely come from BP!

[Simon Woodward]

08:57 AM on 07/18/2010

Why BP. Get it into your thick american heads that a HALLIBURTON crew caused the accident. Sue them why don't you....

[johnjohn1234]

04:43 PM on 07/18/2010

No. Halliburton was once led by Dick Cheney and they would never do anything wrong.

[healthanalyst]

01:59 AM on 07/19/2010

because they made the decisions on the rig. under US law, they are liable. big time. all damages. don't like it, stay out of our oil leases.

[fortressfountain]

02:26 PM on 07/16/2010

The "recovery" has caused a lot of animals to be abandoned. I live in horse country and it has taken its toll here-big time. Wealth is being lost in this country. Why is their not government aide to help animals too. Oh, I forgot the deficit. Plenty of money to use for war and handouts for other nations.

[floodberg]

12:56 AM on 07/17/2010

Fave #3.