Disheartening
From WATE:
Directors across East Tennessee say they’re taking in 30 to 80 animals a day. This June, an alarming 1,400 pets were dropped off at the Knoxville center alone. “It’s up from the previous year by about 300,” Williams says.
Mostly this is due to irresponsible pet owners but the article goes on to say that people falling on hard economic times (moving to small apartments) has lead to the increase in abandoned pets.
Of the 1,400 animals that came into the Knoxville/Knox County Animal Shelter in June, nearly 1,100 had to be put down.
July 16th, 2003 at 1:55 pm
I don’t buy that bullshit about “hard economic times”. I cant imagine thousands of Knoxvillians losing their jobs, selling their houses AND getting rid of their pets. 99.99% of all apartment complexes accept dogs. It seems to me if the pet were “loved and cared for” by the owner then the owner would find a new home or taske the pet with them.
July 16th, 2003 at 3:45 pm
If the economic down turn is such a bad reason for the trend… why else is the shelter seeing so many more pets than normal? I’m not saying the economy is the only reason… but something had to lead to the increase.
July 16th, 2003 at 4:28 pm
That is disheartening, and disturbing. It’s hard to understand some of the excuses people use to discard their animals.