Jan 30, 2008 11:24 am US/Central
Foreclosures In MN Hitting Home For Family Pets
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ―
The increasing problem of home foreclosures has led to more abandoned pets as families are leaving their dogs, cats or horses behind as they move from houses they can no longer afford, animal rescue volunteers said.
"I'm getting skinny horses in here that people have walked away from," said Drew Fitzpatrick, director of the Minnesota Hooved Animal Rescue Foundation in Zimmerman.
Fitzpatrick said that in the past, abandoned horses were usually due to an owner's mental illness, divorce or cancer.
"Now it's bankruptcy and ARM foreclosure. Rural America is really starting to get punched," Fitzpatrick said.
Over the last two months, at least 51 of the 150 animals brought to the Rice County Humane Society were because of foreclosure, said Michelle DeWeese, who works at the shelter.
"We have owners who are so upset that they have to give up their animals because of foreclosure," she said.
More than 13,600 Minnesotans lost their homes to foreclosure last year, double that of 2006, according to RealtyTrac. The Humane Society of the United States issued a statement this month urging pet owners to take their animals with them.
Sadie Wakal, director of the Safe Sanctuary in Faribault, said the number of animals coming in due to foreclosures has pushed the shelter to its limit.
"We're foster based, so we're stretched for foster homes. We're begging and pleading and poking dogs in corners," Wakal said.
For horse owners already facing high feed costs, the problem is particularly acute. A federal ban on horse slaughterhouses in America recently shut down that option -- which once paid owners about $600 per horse when there was nowhere else to turn.
There have been reports of horses wandering the Florida Everglades and coal mines in Kentucky, where owners set them free to forage on their own.
A horse owner recently euthanized more than 80 horses, mostly Shetland ponies, in Grey Eagle, northwest of St. Cloud, because of rising feed costs and her own poor health.
"I loved my horses, I was their mother," said the owner, Gail Carlson, who said she was spending $2,000 a month on hay. "I couldn't just keep doing that."
Others are seeking help.
"All of our rescue groups are overwhelmed with horses," said Stephanie Valberg, director of University of Minnesota equine center.
Fitzpatrick said she got a call this week from the sheriff in Morrison County, who reported a herd of horses running free in the area.
"He just said it looks like another foreclosure," she said.
State officials say they plan to launch a series of round-table discussions later this winter to look for answers.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
