While on lockdown during the pandemic, shelter pets became the face of hope in a daunting and confusing time. Adoption rates skyrocketed. Shelters celebrated across social media, posting photos of empty kennels and new adopters. It was the best of times in the worst of times in America. Then Joe Biden and Kamala Harris came along. Americans found themselves struggling to put food on their plates, never mind pet bowls, and many of those happy, slobbery, furry faces ended up back in shelters. A turbulent economy claims the most innocent of victims.
"It was a really fun time to be in animal welfare," Bobby Mann, chief programs officer of the Humane Rescue Alliance, the largest animal shelter in the DC metro area, told Vox. "We did absolutely see an uptick in adoptions."
And then came 2021, and for pets, it's been a rollercoaster ride to the bottom and then back to the shelter. "By and large, shelters are screaming from the rooftops that they've been in crisis for a while, and it's not letting up," Stephanie Filer, executive director of Shelter Animals Count, told the outlet.
According to the Department of Labor, consumer prices are up 20.2% since Biden and Harris took office, and Liberty Nation News' economics correspondent Andrew Moran (a concerned cat guardian) explains one of the issues associated with a crumbling economy:
“Since January 2021, pet food prices in the consumer price index (CPI) report have climbed 23%. Like human food, cat and dog food products have been subjected to the same forces, whether labor shortages or higher raw material costs. Dog food manufacturing, for example, has rocketed 30% in the producer price index (PPI). Unfortunately, with high-quality pet food becoming costlier over the years, owners have no other choice but to choose the cheapest items, which usually contain the worst ingredients."
The pet crisis in America is becoming untenable, and there is no help on the way.
Bidenomics – All Bite, No Bark
Unfortunately for domestic pets, the rebalancing of supply and demand from pandemic days has resulted in mass suffering – either by packing too many animals into crowded rescues and shelters, turning them away, or leaving no other option than an undeserved euthanasia.
What the media and the Biden administration do not want to connect is that the high interest rates and the housing crisis run parallel to overcrowded shelters and kill rates – something that had been decreasing, albeit slowly, since the 1970s.
"The current issues involving the number of dogs in shelters across the nation is a direct result of the Biden economy," Cindy Castle, president of the board for Easy Street Animal Shelter, told Liberty Nation News. "The rising cost of living over the past four years has left thousands of animals sitting in shelters – many shelters going backward in their efforts to eliminate euthanasia." As Castle explains, people are afraid to adopt an animal because of the rising costs of food, housing, keeping the lights on, and paying for health care.
Pet health care is also at risk for those who can barely afford rent and groceries. Veterinary bills have skyrocketed over the last several years and are affecting millions of American pets. Pawlicy Advisor, a pet insurance blog, released the latest distressing news: "While the majority of pet owners are facing financial difficulties when it comes to pet care, US pet owners who earn less than $100,000 a year face significantly more challenges. 39% of respondents making at least $100k per year say they have rehomed a pet in the last year, with one-third (33%) citing the cost of living as the reason why."
In 2022, 4% more animals were brought to shelters than were taken to a permanent home. By the end of 2023, that number rose to 5%. Those percentage points add up to tens of thousands of animals.
Castle is on the front lines daily with the all-volunteer rescue:
"In our small rural shelter in north Texas, we have seen a drastic decrease in adoptions over the past two years. There has been a drastic increase in adult dogs and litters of puppies just being dumped in the country. Some owners regretfully surrendered their dogs because they couldn't afford the upkeep. Their pain is devastating. We are full – we aren't the only ones – and the number of animals in need of help will continue to increase unless we can get away from the Biden/Harris economy."
The Most Vulnerable Victims Have No Voice
"I encourage people not to take on more than they can handle," Crystal Heath, a veterinarian working with San Francisco Bay Area shelters, told Vox. "And I don't think that dog ownership or cat ownership or pet ownership in any way is a right that people should have. But I also am not going to be judgmental about somebody who brings an animal in or takes care of an animal who would be killed otherwise and provides them with the best care that they can."
Heath, who rails against irresponsible breeders and lack of government assistance programs, continued: "I wish they had to look into the eyes of who we have to kill before bringing more lives into this world."
But as Cindy Castle states, “We have to fix this economy. We can't take much more."
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