Andrea Rosebrock 
If you watch the news, you’ll see more and more stories about these most innocent victims of this financial hell our country seems to be going through; Foreclosure Pets. The headlines ring out; “Foreclosures At An All Time High,” “Foreclosures Leads to Abandoned Animals,” “Family Pets Major Victims of Foreclosure” and many more. It’s heart wrenching!
The stories are even more so. Dogs, cats, even small pets, abandoned; closed in rooms or left outside or in a garage with no means of sustenance, many beyond saving by the time they are found, the pictures so graphic as to make you think of animal holocaust victims.
One of the things that makes this even worse is that people often have months warning
when they are going to lose their home but their once cherished pets don’t even seem to enter their minds and are relegated to just trash left behind.
Even pet owners who care and try to do the right thing are running into problems; rescues are filled to overflowing with dogs and cats, shelters are bursting at the seams.
This sad situation is only bound to escalate as the economy bottoms out and foreclosure rates continue to rise, shelters and rescues fill and people are not adopting because sadly, pets are expensive.
Not everyone is content to sit back and just read the stories of these abandoned dogs and cats. Instead on just crying and asking “What can I do?” she answered her own question and has chosen to make a difference where she lives.
I got this email today and want to share it because you too can make a difference:
Dear Deanna,
Thank you for the information. I live in Northern CA. I am so outraged by this
foreclosure crisis and the abandonment of these poor animals.Instead of being upset and crying over it I decided to do something. I went to
the Realty Trak website you provided and I queried foreclosures in my zip code, I’m going to go to these homes and investigate…. I’ll be snooping around looking in windows and listening for any obvious or tell tale signs of abandoned animals. That’s one thing I can do to try to help in my community. I signed up for a free trial w/Realty Trak so they provide the exact address. After I finish my zip I’ll go to the next and then on. At least I’ll be doing something instead of sitting here upset, angry and crying for these poor creatures. Wish me luck, I hope I can do some good.
She’s going to make a difference and if she saves the life of only one abandoned pet, her time will be well spent. She may call it ’snooping’ but there’s nothing wrong with investigating and what she is doing is actually using a sound investigative method. I applaud her actions and hope that she will keep my updated with her progress.
The thing here is, you can do the same thing or even as little as just taking some time to drive around and look at houses. Abandoned and empty houses usually have an obvious look, it takes only minutes to check, look in the windows, check the yards. If you see an animal in distress the most important thing is to get it out of that situation.
So, will you answer this ‘Call to Action’ or will you continue to just sit and read these horror stories “upset, angry and crying for these poor creatures.” Will you continue to ask “What can I do?” but never doing anything? You can make a difference!
Who’s Saying What