"The number one issue for both dogs and cats is housing. Either they're going into housing that doesn't allow for pets or they're moving because of financial restraints, you know, the rising inflation affects everything. It affects the cost of food, the cost of services," said Katy Hansen, Director of Marketing at NYC ACC.
*****
Every single time I've ever rented a house, my #1 priority when looking for a new place was my dog(s). If they don't allow dogs, I won't even consider it. Sure, there's been a couple times I've had to either double my security deposit or put down a separate pet deposit and I've missed out on some really great houses, but that's the price of having a pet, just like making sure you can pay a vet for its health and well being. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices.
Some folks just don't seem to grasp the concept that pets aren't disposable. Dogs get even more attached to their owners than we do to them and it kills them, sometimes literally, to go from a comfortable home to a shelter.
My dogs are family, make that more important than some of my family. I'm in it until the end.
ReplyDeleteSeeing it here in NC. One local rescue with a great record has had to pause it's intake; too many animals, not enough money............lotta self-centered asses out there with no empathy for their animals.
ReplyDeleteWhen my life went tits-up last year, I sold the house, and was going to sell/give away everything else and just buy a scooter to ride 'till I died. But Grizz. Best. Dog. Ever. Bernese Mountain Dog, seven years old, and we're joined at the hip since he was two months old. I tried and tried to find a place to live, but as soon as they heard "big dog", it was a no-go. We wound up living together for many months in the desert in a travel trailer at campgrounds in Idaho, Utah, and Arizona (those that allowed giant dogs), until we found a place in Southern Arizona. A lot of camps out there are now owned by the Hindus, and if your dog is over twenty pounds, they won't even talk to you. Fuque 'em. I won't give up my best friend for a little comfort.
ReplyDelete~Unclezip
wow, that socks the big one. and Bernese are the biggest love bugs in the canine world.
Deleteglad everything worked out for you both.
Karen's Don't seem to realize it's little dogs that usually cause problems.
In general, I like animals far more than most people. Wouldn't hurt me a bit to see a bunch of human road kill on my way to an from work. But that's just me.
ReplyDeleteOhio Guy
Agreed. All if our animals over the years, dogs AND cats, have been rescues and stayed with us to the end.
ReplyDeleteThe bright shiny pet of 2020 gets in the way and is dumped into a shelter, or turned loose. When food is scarcer, and money tighter, we might wind up with packs of feral dogs which would present problems on several levels.
ReplyDeleteIn UK during Covid lockdown many dogs were bought for walking company. Now we are back to "normal" the poor beasts will be neglected or surplus to requirements. Raging inflation will not help.
ReplyDeleteMy father was a Veterinarian. I grew up working for him and doing emergency calls at night and weekends. One day a young couple, with two kids came in with a puppy that had a fractured leg (bone sticking out). My dad went through all the costs, follow up visits necessary, everything to discourage this couple, who could not afford paying for all this, to (don't diss me here) put the puppy down. But my father, after the couple telling him that the kids love the dog, agreed to their payment of $5.00 a week (this is in the 1970's). That was all they could afford. Some people should not have pets, they are very expensive to take care of today. My brother took over the family business and costs are very high for surgery and care. I've seen too many college kids get dogs only to abandon them when leaving college. Its cool to have a dog until you leave school and have to pay for it yourself, or find housing (as was stated) that will allow pets.
ReplyDeleteI was going to wait until after my woofer died to attend college but the Montgomery GI bill expires after ten years so it's use it or lose it unless I convert it to the 9/11 bill. I was probably one of the last groups to be allowed to buy into it (2010). Fortunately, this mass psychosis over the Wuhan nonsense has made hybrid classes the new standard. I plan on "attending" most of my classes over the internet with laboratory work being m one physical class. People today are more likely able to keep their pets while attending school as long as they aren't having to work at the same time.
DeleteIt should also be pointed out that it is an unacceptable that people in the United States still have to choose between their pets or a degree / trade, pets or housing. We are supposed to be the best in the world but we aren't anymore. Between the success of the Scandinavian models and seeing my people having to choose between healthcare, food, or housing, and saddled with a lifetime of debt for education; it all has me re-evaluating most of my social-economic positions over the last 2-3 years.
TL;DR: In recent years, I'm leaning more to a capitalist model with socialist safety nets that prevent the current post-capitalist system from exploiting the people by keeping them desperate and in poverty; lacking the resources to mount any opposition.
We live on a short block ending in a cul-de-sac in a large subdivision. Somehow, the dog walkers just have to come on this block even if my GSD mix and I are out and she's raising hell ("This street isn't your property. Dangerous dog, dangerous dog!") Lately, the number of outsider dog walkers is way down to a couple of regulars, thank God. I can talk her out of raising hell with all the neighbors except the Alabama fan but there's nothing we can do about him. My wife suggests that there were a lot of Covid dogs and now the people have gone back to work.
ReplyDeleteI have had dogs for a very long time now. Pretty much when I was a kid, my parents only allowed them a couple of times, due to them not wanting to have our family tied down. But as an adult, on my own, I have had a dog most of the time.
ReplyDeleteBut if I could not afford to pay for it's upkeep, including normal vet bills, then I just would not have one. I could not afford to pay thousands for major surgeries, and so I would have had to gone the euthanasia route. Until I got my wife her first pet, and she found out what she had been missing. She got a Bichon Frise', and ever since that day, she has never been without a dog. And I paid over a thousand dollars for knee surgery for him, when his patella got twisted to the side of his leg, from jumping onto the couch and missing.
I won't say that I love my dogs more than my kids, but they come before a lot of my other relatives. Especially since they are one hundred times more loyal. I live in a trailer park, and you are only allowed 1 small pet. We at times have had 2, without any problem. Our neighbor has a yellow lab, a pretty large animal. I figure it is nobodies business, so long as they are not hurting anyone.