Not all animals are suited for outdoor survival, especially house pets.
During tough economic times, homeowners sometimes abandon their pets when the homeowners are forced to leave their homes. This has negative effects on both the animal and the community. Besides being cruel, pet abandonment can disrupt local ecosystems and forces shelters to devote resources to euthanizing the pets.
Temporary Homes
The Humane Society reports that 70 million stray cats exist in the United States. Some people leave pets behind in apartments when the lease expires. This puts a strain on the landlord, who must take the pet to a shelter. Others leave their pets outside, increasing the number of animals roaming the streets. This is especially a problem with cats, which are often feral and taken in temporarily by people living in summer homes.
More people abandon cats than dogs, since people mistakenly believe that cats can fend for themselves more easily than dogs. Feral cats are accustomed to living on their own without human assistance, but house cats accustomed to living with humans have a difficult time feeding themselves on the streets or in the woods.
Shelters
Abandoned animals can overwhelm shelters and strain resources. Many shelters must euthanize pets when they have a surplus of animals. Shelters try keep alive pets that are most likely to be adopted. Some pets deprived of love by previous owners are likely to be very energetic, since they crave love that they did not receive, whereas others are reluctant to associate with humans and are unfriendly.
Local Ecosystems
Many animals, such as domesticated ducks, gold fish, bullfrogs and aquarium fish, end up abandoned by owners in environments that they are not adapted to. Some pets can disrupt the natural balance of local ecosystems, since they out compete other animals for food and space. In some instances, domesticated animals must be physically removed from parks, costing the county money.
There are limitations on how many animals of a particular species an ecosystem can support. Leaving pets there can lead to overpopulation, which causes mass starvation. Other pets are not suitable for surviving hotter or colder temperatures than they are accustomed to.
Abandoned in Homes
Some pets are abandoned in homes. These pets have become accustomed to certain temperatures and they can freeze or die from heat stroke when the weather changes. Also, as water supplies run out, pets inevitably die from dehydration if they are not found by anyone. Dogs that are near starvation after abandonment will often eat food very rapidly, to the extent where they vomit. Starved dogs have very visible pelvic bones and ribs due to lost muscle and fat. Pets can eventually recover from starvation if they are fed food that is full of a variety of nutrients, especially protein.
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