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The HSUS Launches Grant Program to Help Families Care for Pets Through Tough Financial Times
Financial times are not improving, foreclosure rates are skyrocketing, animal shelters are busting at the seams with pets that are being turned in because families lose their homes and can no longer keep them.
I’ve written about it before;
- Foreclosure Pets, You Can Make a Difference - Call to Action
- Pets Too Often the Victim of Foreclosure
- ‘Foreclosure Pets’ - It’s so Common it has a Name
Sadly, this is a trend that doesn’t look to be coming to an end any time soon but there may be help, a new grant program for shelters and rescue groups sponsored by the HSUS to help keep pets and families together.
From the HSUS
To help keep families and pets together through foreclosures and financial crisis, The Humane Society of the United States has created a new grant program for shelters and rescue groups.
Pets have been among the voiceless victims of the current economic downturn. Animals have been left behind in foreclosed homes, and shelters are reporting that families are struggling to keep and feed pets.
To ease the current hardships, The HSUS is offering grants to animal shelters, non-sheltered rescue/adoption groups and animal care and control agencies to help establish, expand, or publicize services or programs that assist families in caring for their pets during the current economic crisis.
A Letter to Mr. and Mrs. Average Pet Owner
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Average Pet Owner:
Thank you for contacting us animal rescuers, shelter volunteers, and foster-homes about your inability to keep your pet. We receive an extremely high volume of inquiries and requests to accept surrendered animals (and none of us is getting paid, OK?). To help us expedite your problem as quickly as possible, please observe the following guidelines:
1. Do not say that you are “CONSIDERING finding a good home” for your pet, or that you, “feel you MIGHT be forced to,” or that you “really THINK it would be better if” you unloaded the poor beast. Ninety-five percent of you have already got your minds stone-cold made up that the animal WILL be out of your life by the weekend at the latest. Say so. If you don’t, I’m going to waste a lot of time giving you common-sense, easy solutions for very fixable problems, and you’re going to waste a lot of time coming up with fanciful reasons why the solution couldn’t possibly work for you. For instance, you say the cat claws the furniture, and I tell you about nail-clipping and scratching posts and aversion training, and then you go into a long harangue about how your husband won’t let you put a scratching post in the family room, and your ADHD daughter cries if you use a squirt bottle on the cat, and your congenital thumb abnormalities prevent you from using nail scissors and etc., etc. Just say you’re getting rid of the cat.
WARNING - NUTRO Making Dogs Sick
A vet passed this info along to me and I did some checking and wanted to pass it along to you. There is no recall and Nutro insists their food is fine but Consumer Affairs is getting an awful lot of complaints and with just a little searching, I’m finding there are probably many, many more not even making it onto the Consumer Affairs website. There complaints are recent and many are from people who have been using NUTRO for years. Not every dog or cat eating NUTRO is experiencing problems but there are enough problems and complaints to be concerned, especially if you are feeding your pet NUTRO and they have become sick and you can’t figure out why.
From Consumer Affairs article dated April 18, 2008
A worrisome health trend among dogs and cats across the country has surfaced in the past few months. Scores of pets from California to South Carolina have experienced sudden and recurring bouts of diarrhea, vomiting, and other digestive problems.
Through an examination of reports submitted by readers, ConsumerAffairs.com has uncovered a common link among these pets: They all ate the same brand of food: NUTRO pet food.
In all of the cases we’ve examined, the animals’ conditions improved once their owners switched them to another brand of food.
“I’ve been feeding my chocolate Lab, Indy, NUTRO for almost four years,” said Laura F. of Las Vegas, Nevada. “He’s always been happy, healthy, and big. Recently I switched him to NUTRO (Natural Choice) Lite at my vet’s request. Three weeks ago, he started vomiting uncontrollably.”
Laura said her veterinarian initially thought Indy had pancreatitis, an inflammation of the pancreas. The vet prescribed some medication and Indy’s condition gradually improved.
“Now, three weeks later, he started vomiting again,” she said, adding she continued to feed her dog NUTRO. “He’s now lost about 8 pounds in three weeks and is weak and lethargic.
“The vet believes — as do I — that it is the food,” she said.
Laura switched brands of dog food and Indy’s health improved. After a while, Laura tried mixing in the NUTRO with the new food. But that turned out to be a bad idea.
“The vomiting started again,” Laura said. “I also noticed that he only ate about half his food and was actually dropping the NUTRO out and trying to only eat the Science Diet. I think even my dog knows there is something wrong with the NUTRO food.
“I will never feed any of my pets NUTRO again.”
Similar stories
We’ve heard similar stories and sentiment from scores of pet owners nationwide — many of whom are loyal NUTRO customers. We’ve also heard from a pet store employee, who noticed these same digestive problems with her clients’ pets that ate NUTRO products.
A pet owner in South Carolina told us that she found foreign objects in her last few bags of NUTRO foods.
