My Family

The newest victims of the nation's foreclosure crisis are pets, which is extremely distressing to me. I love animals. I have 3 dogs myself - I actually have a kennel license in order to do so. I love them so much I couldn't imagine my life without them. They are the first thing I think of when I wake up, the last thing before I go to bed.

Ralph's fluffy black body lying next to my bed, sprawled out comfortably snoring on the fake mink bed I made for him. I made it white so that I wouldn't step on him in the dark. He's a big boy, and he snores all night, filling the bedroom with pleasing dog sounds and dog dreams. I can't go to sleep until I hear his deeply drowsy final nightly sigh, the heaviness of sleep overtaking him. My middle girl dog, Bronwyn, curls up in a tight ball at the foot of the bed, looking like a Cinnabon fresh out of the oven, sweet and warm. Then there is my littlest one, Gudrun, my tiny Pomeranian-Chihuahua mix - or Pomchi for short. She sleeps right next to me. She really loves to find my warm spots, Knee back hollow, Tummy Lane, Underarm Pass. She finds the most heated areas and plops herself down for the night. Sometimes she is so tired from lengthy walks, playing with her brother and sister, chewing on her toys - such an intense life for such a little dog - she can't even bring herself to find one of the warm spots. She just collapses where she is, tumbling down into dog slumber. My bedroom is a symphony of snoring - dog and human. There is no real conductor, and we all do solos. When the dogs have been playing a lot and not been bathed a lot, the whole room smells like Fritos. I love that corn chip dog paw smell. It is delicious and reassuring. It smells like love.

The thought of people abandoning their pets is a nightmare to me. I would've been one of those people in Hurricane Katrina refusing to leave my flooded house because they wouldn't rescue my dogs along with me. I think it is really sad that when people lose their homes they kind of lose their minds too. I'm not trying to judge anyone. Financial hardship is overwhelming, but when we lose our love for our animals, we lose our humanity, which to me is a million times worse than losing our homes.

Comments

[Hart]

OMG, I thought my partner and I had to be the only people in the world that talked about how dogs' feet (at least our dogs) smelled like corn.

[LegalMomma]

I always knew you were a very funny woman but now I know you have a good heart too. It's a heartbreaking story. I'm still trying to make it up to my 4 legged kids that they can no longer sleep with us because of my husband's allergies.

[HillbillyBob]

My partner and I left South Fla after he was outsourced twice in less than 9 months. We were in a real bad way. We ended up in an old house in rural Western NC.
I am on disablity. We had 3 dogs and even though we went hungry we bought dogfood. They have no choice when their humans are in a bad way.
I was very sick, my partner was about to loose his mind, and his health suffered.
The love our girls gave us helped us through a very hard time.
We did not have anywhere to go, no heat in that house, broken windows but the girls were so there for us.
We saw about the mess during katrina, but were in no position to help, but we did donate what we could. Our girls always come first, even when we were hungry we found a way to feed them. I understand about how you sometimes have to find a place for a beloved pet to go. Things are better for us now, two of the three are gone now and we have two more that were shelter dogs. I really feel for those losing their homes, it really is like dying. It hurts to see those abandoned pets, Here in central NC where we are now there are a lot of animals ending up in shelters from foreclosure, and the evening news today had a story that many will have to be put down as there is no room I wish we could take them all in. Thank you Margaret for your story and shining some light on their plight.

[sisterdebmac]

Oh, Margaret, I totally agree. I've had times where I was literally just a few hundred dollars from living in a ditch somewhere. I was unemployed for a year and a half after 9/11 destroyed the company where I worked. I told my friends and family at the time that (my beautiful Afghan/Spaniel mix) Lacey and I would just be hobos together. And I meant it. If the two of us had to live in my car, we would've! Of course, the people who loved us never would've let it come to that, but I never would've let her go for anything. Sadly, last summer I had to let her go after 17 wonderful years when she developed inoperable bladder cancer. And I'm still in mourning. She was my heart. Thanks for your wonderful post!

[greymen]

Without our kitty, rabbit and chinchilla we would be lost...Kudos for your compassion and for bringing this to public attention.

[BonnieJW]

I loved your article, Margaret. I agree with you that abandoning pets is abandoning our humanity. There have been some stressful times in my life that were made lighter because of my dear furry friends. My husband and I have charged our three children to take care of our two dogs should we die before them, and never split them apart.

[heywhat]

Ms. Cho -

I certainly don't want anyone to abandon his/her pets; when I lost my home to foreclosure I took my three dogs to a no-kill shelter. Still, by the time I got to that point I was to the point where in the dark of the night I considered suicide. I had stopped answering the phone or the door, going to the mailbox. I lost thirty pounds because I had no desire to eat.

While I'm sure your post is written out of sympathy, please remember that most people going through foreclosure are going through something close to death. Perhaps better than lamenting those who felt the meed to leave their pets behind it would be better to organize some sort of sanctuary for animals that owners may give up. In some families, I know the case was true in mine, there is no money for food or healthcare for humans much less the pets - even at that point it's not easy to let go of the pets. After turning my pets over, I had to pull off the road I was sobbing so hard and couldn't continue driving for almost half an hour. For days I obsessed about ways to get them back

I still can see their sweet faces and articles like this only add to the terrible of guilt.

[belladawna]

haha all i can say is what i would do when i had my cat(of 13yrs.) before some meanie "made her run off into the woods" is.... "open up a window to let out that frito smell"!!!!! LOL *chuckles to self*
yes, i do miss my cat terribly, but i am more worried about the Katrina situation and the diseased trailers that are now in the news!!!!!

[gennifer6]

It blows my mind that we are even having this discussion, that so many people are being forced out of their homes for us to end up with this as a secondary epidemic...how many folks in foreclosure don't even have pets?? How bad would it be if they did?
Heh...I remember talking to my grandfather about Katrina and he said he'd have lost half his family in it because we wouldn't have left the dogs.
You do what you have to do.

[kittyglitter]

I love the smell of dog toes too. My pomeranian Attila sleeps the same way as Gudrun. Under blankets. Head on pillow.

They really are wonderful, arent they?

[janeb]

I agree, although not everyone will. My life centers around my dogs. I lost my mother a couple years ago and my boys are all grown up now. Now it is me, my husband and my dogs. Animals give uncondidtional love. Thats hard to find nowadays.

[LanceJetson]

Thanks! I couldn't imagine life with out my canine companions,Simon and Hans, and it saddened me to read about the pets abandoned due to the foreclosure mess. Just as the animals left behind after Katrina saddened me -- I, too, would refuse to leave without my dogs who seem to offer me more love than I can give. Your speaking of paw smells reminds me of Steinbeck's "Travels with Charlie" which I recommend. It's a non-fiction account of Steinbeck's travels through America with his dog Charlie. At one point he talks about smelling dogs paws to discover the stories they tell, to see where they've been.

[Henry]

The pet test is the test of enduring character.