Cathy M. Rosenthal

Doing more to keep families and pets together

I have been an animal welfare professional for more than 25 years. During that time, I have worked at local animal shelters and national animal welfare organizations helping dogs, cats and other animals live better lives. I’ve had a pretty good seat these last few decades and witnessed dramatic shifts in people’s perceptions of animals.

As a result, we have seen better health-care options for our pets, better laws to protect them from abuse and more low-cost resources so that everyone can provide basic care for their dog or cat.

The most important shift, though, has been that more people consider their pets as part of the family. So imagine the heartbreak a family must feel when they surrender their dog or cat to an animal shelter, not because they want to, but because they have to.

Thankfully, there are more solutions today. More landlords open their doors to pet-owning renters, and pet food banks offer kibble to help families in need.

But some pet owners surrender their dogs and cats to animal shelters because they can’t afford medical care for their sick or injured pets. In these instances, animal shelters take in and treat pets and then re-home them to new families.

Imagine how heartbreaking this must be for the original family. It’s a mixed message that tosses the “pets are family” mantra right out the door.

I know some people will say “it’s only fair; if they can’t afford the pet, they shouldn’t have one.” But I am sensitive to this issue. At 14, my parents divorced and my family fell on hard times. With no pet-friendly housing available and a lack of resources for their care, my parents surrendered our two family dogs, Duffy and Sugar, to the local animal shelter.

My sisters and I cried for months. Our dogs had been our friends and now they were living with another family because of my family’s temporary hard times.

I don’t blame my parents. They did what they could with what resources were available at the time. But no doubt the trauma of losing my pets like this set me on a vocation to help pets and people stay together whenever possible.

Back in March, I stood in the rain in line with more than 100 families and their pets at a low-cost vaccination clinic in San Antonio. Everyone talked about how much they loved their pets and wanted to take care of them. As we continue expanding our compassion, I hope we can find more resources to keep pets and their families together. I think most people agree that no one should ever have to surrender a pet they dearly love.
