Fact Finder: Helping pets in peril

People aren’t the only ones affected by the economic downturn.  The financial crisis is also hitting the pet population.

More animals are being dropped off at animal shelters than ever.

But shelters are overcrowded, and in stead of going to good homes, 70% to 90% of the animals are being put to sleep.

Now some people are finding creative ways to save these animals from certain death.

The emergency animal rescue center, T.E.A.R.S., is supposed to be a shelter for only seriously injured or abused animals.  But these days their kennels are beyond capacity, and many of the 300 animals on the property are perfectly healthy cats and dogs.

Terra Cotromano, founder and director of T.E.A.R.S., said, “There’s not enough shelters and places for these animals to go to handle this load because its so much heavier now than normal.”

Cotramano says, like many other shelters in the area, they’ve seen a huge increase in their animal population since the economy took a dive.  She hears from people desperate to find good homes for their pets.  “Numerous, numerous calls from people who are losing their homes, lost their jobs and just in dire circumstances.  They’re tearful calls that will just break your heart because its people that clearly love their animals but just simply can no longer afford to care for them.“

“Traveler”, a retriever mix at the shelter, is most likely a good example of that.  He was found in a hotel room after his owner was arrested.

Cotramano said, “In this case the dog was very well cared for, neutered, trained clearly a loved animal.  We just wonder if this was a person who was in a hotel because of the economy and they had lost their home.”

Phil Doster is a radio show producer at Magic 96.5 FM in Birmingham.  But he has second job that involves his first love:  animals in need of good homes.  He works at Birmingham-Jefferson County Animal Control in the afternoons, but he also fosters unwanted pets until they find their forever home. 

Phil said, “It’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.  The hardest part of fostering an animal is you fall in love with them and its hard to see ‘em go but if they don’t go, then you don’t get to bring another in and save another life.“

Phil even spends much of the little free time he has online, using the internet to spread the word about homeless pets.  He said, “Social networking sites like FaceBook, Myspace even Craigslist are great places to broadcast what animals are available for adoption.“

The Birmingham-Jefferson County Animal Control center says it has adopted out more animals in the past several months because of online outreach like Phil’s.  He shows pictures of the animal with a description of its energy level, personality, and if it would be a good match with children or other pets.
Cotromano said T.E.A.R.S has seen a drop in donations since the downturn of the economy.  But its food bill has doubled since last year because of the increase in animals. “We do 250 pounds of dog food a day and that’s a big purchase.  It runs about 150 dollars a day.”

They also need supplies such as food, pet bedding and drop-on flea products like Advantix and FrontLine.

But organizations like T.E.A.R.S. need more than just your money, they could also use your time. 

Phil Doster said, “Volunteering with the rescue groups, with humane societies, with BJC Animal Control, places like that where you can volunteer of your time you can still be close to the animals.  It’s not the financial burden that owning a pet would be.
Cotramano says she’d also like to see more people getting involved by lobbying Alabama legislators to enact laws to make Alabama a spay/neuter state.

Cotramano says the way to do that is enact a animal license fee of something like $5 for a spayed or neutered pet, and up to $50 for one that’s not.  So getting a pet fixed is simply cheaper than not having it done.

Many states with spay/neuter laws have such low numbers in their shelters they actually come to Alabama to take some of our unwanted pets back home to make available for adoption.

Cotromano said, “You know those people who stand there and say ‘nobody can make me spay my dog’ ... Get over it!  You don’t need to be made, you need to have enough sense to do it on your own but if you don’t, then somebody needs to step up on behalf of these animals.“
 
In the meantime, folks like Phil Doster will keep working to make a difference… one pet at a time.

Phil said, “People may get sick of seeing 30 e-mails from me every day but every once in a while they say, ‘Oh, here’s a dog I just have to have.’  And it’s those that make a difference.“

Since we talked to Phil last week, he’s turned his passion for saving pets into a full time job.  He’s now the Director of Adoptions for Birmingham-Jefferson County Animal Control.

Watch Lisa Crane’s previous Fact Finder report on Pets in Peril here.