What is it with people abandoning animals?

[grumpyduck]

I've seen several items recently about a dog being rescued after it was dumped somewhere or tied to a post or something. I don't even want to think about the one on Kristi Noem.

Are people getting that sick recently, or did we just not know about it before the internet?

[Elessar Zappa]

1. Has always been a problem.

People get animals that they think they want and then it doesn’t live up to expectations so the responsible ones give them to the shelter and the cruel ones abandon them.

[FalloutShelter]

4. There was a big increase in animal adoption during COVID.

I think that has led to an increase in abandoned animals.

From Feb 2023:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/animal-shelters-struggle-as-many-pets-adopted-during-pandemic-are-returned

[blm]

2. Cruelty, in general, has increased with a faction that now excuses it

as a political dogma - greed, cruelty, and selfishness are now seen as virtues.

[Elessar Zappa]

3. I don't know that cruelty has increased.

Perhaps it has in some ways but things like violent crime are way down from decades past. I think the cruelty is just more openly celebrated by a certain political faction (MAGA of course).

[LeftInTX]

5. Shelters and rescues are full. So, people dump them. Kristi Noem is another story.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

6. If you're seeing those stories as posts on Facebook, they're likely scams.

[grumpyduck]

14. I'm not on Facebook.

But I've seen a number of them right here on DU.

[GreenWave]

7. It is bad in the Tropics too.

Dickhead acquires baby Siberian tiger. One day family dog is gone. They dump the Tiger in the forest. Humans cannot outrun, out jump, out swim, or even out climb a Tiger. Only hope is to stink out the forest.

[revmclaren]

8. I belong to a local cat TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release)

group on Facebook and dumped cats and dogs are out of control. I'm also on the Neighborhood app and it's just heart breaking to see all the alerts every day.

[SWBTATTReg]

9. I don't why people dump animals. My Mom and Dad lived behind a state park in the Missouri Ozarks, on a sparsely

traveled road, and they had all kinds of dogs, and some cats even, showed up at their front door. The poor things were dumped off behind the park and left to fend for themselves. Every person on that road behind the park had a couple of animals that they have adopted that were dumped. A disgusting thing. Absolutely disgusting. I lost quite a bit of my respect for humanity when I saw this, and how many of them were dumped.

[maxsolomon]

12. That's my sisters's experience in S. Indiana.

She's known as a softie so dogs and cats have been dumped near her a couple times.

People abandon dogs when they can't afford or take care of them anymore and don't want the shame of turning them in to the pound.

[get the red out]

10. No conscious

Humanity is mostly wretched.

[Fla Dem]

11. Unfortunately it's probably been going on for ages.

That why there are so many dogs and cats ending up in shelters waiting to be adopted or euthanized. With the increase in messaging apps more people are posting their experiences finding animals.

[3catwoman3]

13. I once brought a cat back to the US from Japan. I got him while...

...I was stationed there in the Air Force nurse corps. No way I would have or coud have left him behind.