Abandoned pets a problem here and elsewhere
Chihuahua and Chiweenie puppies are heart-meltingly cute, looking for all the world like stuffed animals come to life. Even the most dog-indifferent person might scramble for a pen to sign adoption papers at the sight of one.
But that didn’t prevent two female puppies that fit that type from apparently being abandoned at an unspecified spot along Interstate 79 Friday. A driver who said they recovered them took the pups to Meadowlands Veterinary Hospital outside Washington, and the hospital then contacted Pet Search, an animal placement and rescue service. The dogs are now being fostered for about three weeks so their personalities and medical histories can be determined before they are made available for adoption.
“They were traumatized,” according to Sherry Knight, who operates Pet Search in Washington with her husband, Chet Knight. “They were very scared.”
Two dogs being left to fend for themselves may not seem like a big story, but it fits into a larger trend. In the years since the COVID-19 pandemic ebbed, dogs and cats that provided companionship during months of isolation have been surrendered as their owners have gone back to work, their children have gone back to school, or they have been evicted from housing that allowed pets. Post-COVID inflation has also eaten away at household budgets, making it that much harder for families to get food and supplies for dogs, cats and other animals.
Why do people abandon their feline and canine friends? Sometimes it’s just a matter of simple embarrassment, Sherry Knight said. “If you’re surrendering a dog or cat, they might think they’re being looked down upon.”
She added, “It’s just a shame.”
In 2023, 6.5 million dogs, cats and other kinds of pets were surrendered at shelters, according to Shelter Animals Count, a nonprofit group that tracks data on sheltered animals. About half of those ended up being adopted. Knight noted that there was a run on pets when COVID-19 lockdowns began five years ago this month, depleting shelter populations. Now, the pendulum has swung the other way, with many shelters now packed. Some owners who want to surrender their pets now have to be placed on a waiting list. The Washington Area Humane Society notes on its website that it reserves the right not to take pets with behavioral or health issues.
Some shelters also charge a surrender fee. Fayette Friends of Animals in Uniontown does not, according to Luke Szymanski, director of operations for the shelter. He pointed out that there are a lot of pets out in the world that people are abandoning or that they want to surrender, “but not a lot of places for them to go.”
Aside from being unfortunate and, in some cases, cruel, abandoning pets is also against the law – in Pennsylvania, abandoning a dog can carry a fine between $300 and $1,000, along with court costs. But if there’s an injury or death, abandoning a dog can become a felony offense, Chet Knight said.
In three days, about 300 people called or sent messages expressing an interest in adopting the dogs that were found last week, Sherry Knight said. The household that ultimately gets the dogs will be chosen based on a number of factors, including whether the animals are good with children or whether they would be compatible with other pets.
“We’re just learning their personalities,” Sherry Knight said. “They bark a lot. They bark at everything. It takes about three weeks before you see a true personality emerge.”