As families feel the pinch of the economy, their feline friends are feeling it too.
Animal shelters around the state are filling up faster than usual and having a harder time finding homes for stray cats, local animal rescuers say.
The Norwood-based Neponset Valley Humane Society is no longer accepting cats, which it helps place in foster homes and area shelters, and has seen the number of abandoned cats rise dramatically over the past year and a half, said Director Janet Donohue.
"There's abandonment everywhere. This is an especially bad time because it's kitten season too," said Donohue, who believes the economy and commitment issues are to blame for the trend.
"(People are viewing) pets as a temporary fix, a feel good thing," she said. "Too many people are letting cats have kittens and taking kittens ... but then when they're six months old they don't want them anymore when they realize they actually have to spend money on them."
Beth Finn, assistant manager of the Dedham branch of the Animal Rescue League of Boston, said cats are coming in much faster than the shelter can find homes.
"The economics I think is in general adding to something we already see every year (during the summer)," she said.
"We are still getting owner surrenders in for various reasons. A lot of it could be because of the cost of spaying or neutering and the cost of general care and it does have to do with the economy," Finn said. "We've seen several dogs as well as cats brought in because people have to move. People who were living in homes now are living in cars, a lot of times people are just having a really bad situation happen to them and they're just trying to do the best they can by their animals."
The shelter does not euthanize animals based on the length of time they've been up for adoption, Finn said, and a handful of abandoned cats brought in this spring are still waiting for homes.
"Usually we're very lucky in that we have really good adoptions," she said. "For the most part adoptions have been up, I think because people are aware of the economic situation and most people are caring and want to help."
Finn said the shelter is currently full, but can assist pet owners in finding other options or resources such as a subsidized spay and neuter program that could help them keep their pets.
Daily News staff writer Lindsey Parietti can be reached at lindsey.parietti@cnc.com
