ABANDONED PETS

- Abandoned pets are both exotic pets and companion animals that are either inadvertently or deliberately cast off by their owners.

This commonly occurs when an owner dies, when a pet becomes inconvenient or grows too large, or if the pet was an impulse buy.

The financial crisis has resulted in a number of pets abandoned for economic reasons. 

Typical of this group are pets left behind when the owner's home is foreclosed.

Animals lucky enough to survive until they are discovered are often in poor condition due to lack of resources such as food and water.

^{Many animals left at a shelter are euthanized due to lack of space and financial resources for these animals. Shelters unable to raise additional funds to provide for the increased number of incoming animals have no choice but to euthanize them, sometimes within days.}