In the Phoenix area, where I live, animal shelters are loaded following financial hardships stemming from the pandemic, according to the Arizona Humane Society. There are also the cases where Christmas presents didn't work out and are returned. To begin with, giving animals as gifts is not a good idea since they are looking for a forever home and most people aren't qualified to judge their recipient. Stick to the typical holiday fare and let the professionals place the pets.Here's the scenario, from Kelsey Dickerson, spokesperson for the Arizona Humane Society...
Dickerson said shelters have reported negative room numbers every morning for the past weeks and have had to find ways to accommodate the increasing number of injured and abused pets that come in every day.
"In the summer months, the Arizona Humane Society especially is used to the overcapacity that we're seeing," she said. "But this is something we've had to get really creative with the fall and winter months because it is usually not as huge of a problem."
This is a problem that exists throughout the U.S., one that will only worsen as the
Dickerson says, "People are losing their homes, they're losing their jobs, they are having medical emergencies pop up," and most recently evictions. There are currently 85 million pet owning households in the U.S. according to the American Pet Products Association's National Pet Owners 2019-2020 Survey. There is no way of knowing how many of those households would take in an extra pet, but if only a portion kicked in the 6.3 million annual shelter intake could be reduced significantly
Here's the shelters' appeal..."We just need help in every possible way," according to the folks at the Arizona Humane Society. This plea no doubt applies to most every animal shelter across the U.S. PLEASE help the animals this holiday.
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