People surrender their senior dogs to shelters for a number of reasons.
Because senior dogs have often been with a single family their entire lives, the reasons for surrender tend to be more serious .. such as:
Financial difficulties. Drastic increases in a pet’s medical costs because of age-related health problems may produce bills that are impossible to pay,. in some countries the vet costs are out of controle!
Lifestyle change. Sudden disruptions, such as divorce or job loss, can lead many to give up their senior pets.
Relocation or death. The human may be moving to a senior living center or has died
"Too much trouble.” Sadly, some elderly animals are given up because they are an inconvenience in their old age.
Economic hardships cause a family to lose their home and the dog becomes homeless too.
Children are born, and the senior dog isn’t able to tolerate the young children because of their energy level, or the parents just don’t want one more responsibility.
People bring dogs to shelters claiming they’re strays so they don’t have to pay a surrender fee.
Former show dogs are no longer useful and are brought to the shelter to be euthanized.
People move away and don’t want to take the dog with them for various reasons.
The dog has become incontinent and rather than taking the dog to a vet to determine the problem, the people bring the dog to a shelter … in many cases without telling the shelter the real reason they’re surrendering the dog.
Senior dogs are traded in for puppies.
Luckily more and more dogmoms and dads see the advantage of adopting a senior dog (Like I mentioned in my previous post) and give them the life they deserve.
If you can't adopt a senior dog (or any dog, I hope), maybe you would like to help at your local shelter.. you could walk a senior dog, spend some time with them, make their day a little brighter..
signed
a 'Senior Dog' mom-O-Holic
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