In a struggling economy, obese cat’s future secured
August 11, 2008
For those of you losing sleep over the future of the world’s second fattest feline, rest assured that “Prince Chunk” has found a home. The 44-pound cat, found wandering the streets of Voorhees, N.J., after his owner lost her house to a foreclosure, has been adopted by a south Jersey family.
The AP reports that some 400 would-be-caregivers made offers to adopt the healthy but “grossly obese” ball of love. My only hope is that the 399 unsuccessful petitioners now turn to their local shelters and adopt other abandoned pets — ones with no celebrity status but with just as much need for a home.
In today’s paper, I took a look at how Maryland pets are being impacted by the down-spiraling economy. While the Maryland SPCA has seen an increase in surrenders due to foreclosures, homelessness is just one of many looming troubles for the state’s furriest residents. Take a peek at the article (or view the video):
According to Kim Hammond, owner of Falls Road Animal Hospital, pet owners today think harder about whether to give veterinarians the go-ahead for expensive surgeries.
“When your animal is really, really sick, you’re going to make a judgment call about whether to treat, when in the past, you didn’t make a judgment call — you just treated it,” he said. “When we had more expendable dollars, we might take the chance.”
Likewise, more and more pets are going into the shelters — but not coming out:
Jess Townsend, who supervises admissions at the Maryland SPCA, said that the organization has seen an uptick in euthanasia requests from pet owners who cannot afford the necessary vet care their pets require.
“With the larger medical problems, people do bring them in to put them to sleep,” Townsend said.
ANNE RILEY, Business Writer
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