Animal shelters overwhelmed due to high rates of inflation.

When we think of the byproducts of our current economic state, most of our minds don’t go directly to pets. Today we want to talk about innocent victims of the lessened cash flow caused by heightened inflation.

In the state of California 57.2% of households are pet owners. ASPCA estimates it costs $1,391 a year to own a dog and $1,149 a year to own a cat.

As inflation has skyrocketed, many Californians are seriously grappling with where they can cut costs to accommodate escalating prices of necessary expenses. Too many households have found themselves in positions where they have no choice but to part ways with aspects of their lives they can no longer afford. Tragically, this inflation rooted conundrum has reared its head for pet owners, and as a result in Animal Shelters, all over the country. Grocery bills are an area where the heightened cost of living is impossible to ignore, and if you are barely affording the food required to feed your immediate family, people are unable to continue to pay for their pets’ food as well.

Furthermore, housing insecurity is an heartbreaking addition to pet owners mounting list of life altering troubles. Heightened cost of living has really cut into people’s ability to spend the cash they normally on donations to charity organizations. Shelters are feeling this in a big and bag way. The combination of declining donations and declining adoptions has put animal shelters in a tough spot.

Pets are such innocent bystanders on the economic roller coaster we ride, it’s so unfair when the mess we’re in impacts them so negatively.

Here are a few things we can do to help in times like these;

- If you’re able, it’s a huge help to foster a dog! When it comes to overflowing shelters, a foster can literally save a dogs life. That’s some good karma right there.

- People can also volunteer their time, packed shelters mean so many animals requiring care, cleaning and walking will be such a big deal to the quality of these animals lives.

- Spread the message on social media in hopes that other folks are inspired to foster and volunteer- it takes a village! In stressful times it’s easy to forget about those who can’t speak up for themselves. If we all take a little action, we can absolutely make the situation better.

For pet owners who have had to tighten the belt a lot on grocery bills, a lot of cities shelters are coordinating pet food pantries. These donation-based pet food banks can make the difference of a pet being fed vs abandoned.

The Bay Area has a ton of pet owning households, let’s rally together to improve a situation that doesn’t have to remain this dire.

- Foster Animals

- Other Ways to Give

- Area Shelters

- Volunteer at Berkeley Humane

- Where to adapt a pet in the bay