Johnson: Homing pets no easy task

They come to us in many ways — perhaps the result of a planned and well researched decision, given as a gift by a loved one or maybe they turn up on the porch bedraggled and in need of a home and hit the jackpot — however it happens, pets and people come together.

The ideal scenario, regardless of how it comes to be, is that a pet is welcomed into a home, becomes a member of the family and lives the duration of its life there with one set of people.

In search of ponies

Ideal scenarios and reality are, however, almost always two distinctly different things.

It’s a known issue that there is no shortage of ads offering pets free to good homes, animal shelters are often filled to the brim, and social media campaigns and websites are prolifically present as advocacy groups and individuals engage in a ceaseless effort to find homes for animals.

There are a lot of reasons why domestic pets end up homeless.

Sometimes things just don’t work out.

Other times, life may throw a kink in the best of intentions and unknown allergies crop up, the money situation changes or a family must move unexpectedly and the pets can’t go along.

Giving up an animal doesn’t mean someone is uncaring or the pet is unloved.

The problem is that once a pet loses a home, it’s hard to find them a new one.

Placing animals in good homes is the biggest problem pet advocacy groups and shelters face and can be a near-impossible task, which means countless pets never get the “ideal”.

While finding homes may seem like a good way to address pet homelessness, advocacy groups have, in recent years, been trying to move in a different direction for that very reason.

Per year, more than a million people — about six percent of American pet owners — give up their animals, according to a recent study released by the ASPCA.

Of those pets given up, 37 percent are given to a friend or family member and 36 percent are taken to shelters.

Those people who took their pets to shelters were most likely to do so because of a problem related to the animal or because of financial strife, while those who found homes for their pets among family and friends said they had family or housing issues.

Many of those surveyed for the study said they had weighed other options before giving up their pets and more than 30 percent reported that things such as affordable veterinary care, pet-friendly housing and free or low-cost food and boarding would have allowed them to keep their animals.

In the end, the report concluded that the majority of pet relinquishments could be prevented with relatively easy solutions.

Results such as these reflect a changing trend in the way animal advocates are approaching a problem that often seems endless, and for good reason.

Helping struggling pet owners get access to affordable veterinary care, food, housing and supplies for their animals really is easy by comparison to finding loving homes for animals — especially if they are already in one.

Sharna Johnson is a writer who is always searching for ponies. You can reach her at:

[email protected]