Pet ownership has changed over the years.You will not see the Britney Spears of the world entering a LA pet store and paying thousands for a Yorkie. Do something like that now and suffer the ire of PETA. Even our new president is being affected by the recent developments in the economy. He has realized that you can’t simply enter a pet store and 30 minutes later walk out with a new family member. The president has stated that trying to find a new dog for his children is tougher than finding a Commerce secretary. He has been trying to model what a responsible new potential pet owner should be like during a recession, or any other time for that matter. During this recession we must take in consideration the needs of all the family members and wait until the household is calm before bringing a new pet into the family. He is also showing setting a good example by getting a pet from a shelter or rescue organization.

Although the president’s decision of a new family dog, and whether it will be a labradoodle or a Portuguese water dog has been all over the media, more importantly is the unstable future of our nation’s pets in a time when there are those who can not pay for their bills. In our nation’s hayday, it was not uncommon to see stories that made us chuckle and shake our heads about how people would spend tremendous amounts of money on their pets. They thought that their dogs actually appreciated the posh bottled water that was served to them in a crystal doggie glass. Stories of million dollar doggie trust funds, thousand dollar doggie hotels, pearl necklaces, and other examples of doggie decadence covered the news stands daily.

Now that the economy has taken a nose dive, stories about pets have evolved and have become much more daunting and deeply depressing. The media all across our nation have been reporting about local animal shelters becoming filled far over their capacity, often times being forced to euthanize a greater number of otherwise healthy pets simply because of space constraints. Still others have left their pets in foreclosed dwellings or tied up in back yards of abandoned properties, left to die of starvation, often times unable to reach food and water, painfully starving to death at the end of a rope. The LA times even made pets and the economy their features story of the New Year. Pets are quickly turning into the luxury that can no longer be afforded.

This downward spiral comes on the heels of a recent upswing in adoptions. For nearly a decade shelters and rescues have been seeing a consistent rise in the rate of pet adoptions a stark difference from the overwhelming intake and decline in new adoption applications. There is no real way of knowing if we have seen the bottom of this staggering trend or if there is more despair to come. One thing is for certain, it is not getting any better.

Any progress made in the past of teaching the public on the need to adopt from rescue organizations instead of purchasing from a pet store means nothing if our failing economy causes people to not be able to afford to own a pet or take care of the pets that they already have in their home. Vet costs alone have been a major factor in family’s decisions to give up their beloved pets. With the average vet visit costing in the range of $200 a visit, people often have to decide whether they can spend this month’s credit card payment and unless they find a way to reduce their credit card debt, they often have little choice but to give up their pet.

Another sign of the rapid decline of the luxury pet market was the cancellation of  New York’s Pet Fashion Week. With all this negative news on the pet industry it is good to mention that pets have all kind of advantages. Vets across the nation have said that pets are an excellent way to lower blood pressure which helps justify spending the money spent on them.

For many people the only way to avoid having to make the decision of paying bills of feeding Fido, is to get themselves in a position to weather the economic storm. For many people this could mean entering into a debt settlement program or other ways of lowering their household expenses. Choosing bankruptcy normally is not the best option for these embattled pet owners who do not want to deal with the court system, paying attorney fees nor having the black mark on their credit report for up to ten years. Often times credit card counseling, which is run by the creditors, is not a realistic option since in most cases the payments are no less and sometimes more then what they are paying at the moment. Again this makes the owner struggle with pet food not to mention vet bills as mentioned earlier.

Whatever program you may decide,  should you need debt relief, ensure that you educate yourself on the differences between the programs and fully aware of the pitfalls. In most cases speaking to someone who can help you in settling your credit card debt can be helpful and is suggested over doing it by yourself.

This discussion over pets and the economy will likely go on for as long as there is an economic crunch in our country. The main issue is that we either need to deal with the debt we have and pull ourselves out of this recession, or resort to what many have and get rid of the family pet. Where will this trend stop? Will the next crisis force us to decide whether to take care of our kids and pay for medical insurance or leave them on the side of the street to go it alone.

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