Animal shelters across US seeing rise in 'owner surrenders'

Daily Mail​

3 days ago

Another troubling sign of economic strain: more Americans are giving up their pets. Animal shelters across the US are seeing a rise in 'owner surrenders,' as families hand over dogs and cats they can no longer afford to keep. Volunteers say it's often an early warning sign of deeper financial distress.
'There are times when the economy has taken a dip or we've had a lot of job layoffs,' Melissa Knicely, a staffer at North Carolina shelter, told CNN . When that happens, '100 percent' there will be a jump in pets given up. Knicely's shelter has seen a 43 percent spike in surrenders this year — with most families saying they simply couldn't afford to keep their pets.
They're not alone. Several rescues across the country have reported similar issues. Risa Weinstock, president of the Animal Care Centers of New York City, said her organization has stopped accepting new animals because they're over capacity. 'We're in the business to care for animals that come to us, and we want to help people with their pets,' she told NBC News .
'But when we have 1,000 animals to care for and a capacity to house them that doesn't meet that need, we're in a bit of a difficult situation.' Dog and cat ownership has become significantly more expensive in recent years, with the price of food and veterinary care climbing steeply. Porter County Animal Shelter, an adoption center in Indiana, estimates that dog owners spend between $20 and $60 a month on food alone.
Annual costs — including beds, collars, medical treatments, grooming, and other basics — can total any additional $925 to $2,900, depending on the dog's breed and size, they estimate. The increasing pet prices are also coming while Americans continue to struggle with their own day-to-day bills.
Food prices have soared since 2020 as restaurants, grocery stores, and suppliers scrambled to rebuild supply chains after pandemic shutdowns. Now, with tariff campaigns, heightened interest rates , growing geopolitical uncertainty, and new price rises, consumers are starting to feel their wallets getting stretched further. Last month, the Labor Department said that prices rose 2.7 percent — the largest increase since February — breaking a months-long streak of slowing inflation.
And Americans are increasingly taking out consumer debt to pay for those higher prices. Still, a majority of economic indicators point to a robust economy. Unemployment claims fell again last week, and the latest jobs report showed that Americans are working and earning more than before.
Those figures have helped reassure Wall Street investors, who continue to pour money into the economy on hopes that US consumers will keep spending. But for many households, the gap between those promising macroeconomic signals and the realities of rising costs feels impossible to ignore.