Pets and This Economy

There was a story in our newspaper earlier this week of the impact of this weakened economy on pets.

As people find it harder and harder to make ends meet, the pets suffer as well. Owner turns ins at shelters are at an all time high.

People who can't make mortgage payments and get evicted often move suddenly and can only find "no pets allowed" places to live. So they leave the pets for the bank to find when they enter the house! (To me, there is NO excuse for this!)

Shelters are full at a time of year they normally aren't too busy. And as mortgage foreclosures continue, they are gearing up for more owner turn ins. One shelter worker said "the best we can offer is a 50-50 chance of placement vs. euthanization. But that is better than the only option left to the owner, to have the pet PTS."

Another set of innocent victims . . . . .

I saw a story about this on TV. It was all very sad. There is no reason why they can't bring the animals to the shelters. No reason what so ever.

Several of our area HS are having similar issues with overcrowding for the same reasons.

I have a few thoughts on the issues.

Where I work the owner keeps the overhead down so we can keep our prices way lower than almost all of our competitors. What this means for us is that when our competitors are having a hard time making ends meet due to clients not wanting to spend the money, we have a booming business. Normally this time of year is very slow for us until last year and we are busier than ever through the winter now.

I think the economy itself does have alot to do with people not taking care of their pets BUT I think Misplaced Priorities have MORE to do with it. Let me explain...

Day after day I hear what owners talk about, among themselves in our waiting area and in the exam rooms when the vet leaves for a moment to get something. I've heard these things so many times it gets sickening.

Complaint #1 we just don't HAVE the money to spend to help out poor fido/fluffy regardless of how much/little it costs (pleading poverty).

Observation: Several of the people in the family have whipped out their Razor phones talking about the new pay channel they just got on their cable tv, or talk about the new cpu they got. These same people crying poverty get into new expensive cars and are dressed in new and trendy (expensive) clothes. Frequently the women have salon done nails and fancy (real) jewlery. They can never get a recheck appointment scheduled because of the extensive out of state vacations they seem to go on. Somehow coming from someone exibiting these things I have a really hard time feeling sorry for their *cough* "poverty" status.

Complaint #2 Fido/Fluffy is OLD we don't want to put alot of money into him/her.

Observation: Cat is 8 years old, dog is 5 yrs old. Also noted that many of these either already have another new dog/cat that is younger or have untreated behavior/medical issues and don't want to deal with them, they'd rather bump off the old pet than spend time/$$ take care of a treatable problems.

Complaint #3 I can't afford THAT much for a spay/neuter/vaccinations/flea/HW meds! Can't you do it for free or a discount?

Observation: Owner usually has multiple animals on a fixed income (SS/disability) and keep getting more. (no offence to anyone here in that catagory) I don't have an issue with having pets on a fixed income but I do have an issue with owners who already have a raging flea problem and can't take care of the animals they have and yet get new ones regularly when they already know they can't afford to take care of them properly.

Nope from my daily experience with all different income bracket of clients I'm seeing only a few that really have been impacted by the economy (meaning one of them lost job to outsourcing etc).

Mostly what I see daily is people who would rather have the computers, internet, cell phones, fancy cars, vacations, clothes, jewlery, cable, kids in multiple sports, and other stuff rather than have an obligation to take care of their pet (financially or time wise). They'd rather cut costs on the pet than curtail their spending any.

I just see more misplaced priorities rather than a direct impact from the economy.

That's not to say that all of our clients are like that, some would do without so their pet could have the best care necessary. But we are seeing ALOT more people with misplaced priorities and it's getting worse year after year.

That's my $.02 worth.

I have an envelope for pet care and I put a fixed amount in it every month. That way when vaccination time comes around or if unexpected illnesses arise, I have savings there for those things.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Catlady711

Day after day I hear what owners talk about, among themselves in our waiting area and in the exam rooms when the vet leaves for a moment to get something. I've heard these things so many times it gets sickening.

Complaint #1 we just don't HAVE the money to spend to help out poor fido/fluffy regardless of how much/little it costs (pleading poverty).

Observation: Several of the people in the family have whipped out their Razor phones talking about the new pay channel they just got on their cable tv, or talk about the new cpu they got. These same people crying poverty get into new expensive cars and are dressed in new and trendy (expensive) clothes. Frequently the women have salon done nails and fancy (real) jewlery. They can never get a recheck appointment scheduled because of the extensive out of state vacations they seem to go on. Somehow coming from someone exibiting these things I have a really hard time feeling sorry for their *cough* "poverty" status.

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Took the words right out of my mouth.