According to a growing number of reports, the soaring costs of food, gas, and housing are causing a spike in the number of family pets being abandoned or surrendered to shelters.
In January 2022, the first alarming animal shelter statistics began to emerge. While an average of 6.2 million animals are taken into shelters each year, only about 3.2 million find a home. The other three million are euthanized.
Astrid, a 1-year-old mixed breed dog with a heart-shaped marking on her nose, is pictured at the Humane Society of the Nature Coast in Brooksville, Fla., on May 27, 2022. She’s been waiting for a new forever home for more than a month. (Patricia Tolson/The Epoch Times)
In March 2022, shelters in Cedar City, Utah, noted a dramatic increase in the number of phone messages being left by desperate pet owners who needed to surrender their pets, receiving as many as 30 calls from mid-January through February. Shelter administrators and staff said the number of strays and the number of pets being surrendered voluntarily are on par with the number of phone calls….