The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Issue date: 5/9/08 Section: News

Local animal rescue organizations are often left to care for pets left behind by students.

As classes end and leases expire, dogs and cats in Fort Collins are taking a backseat to many college students' vacation and summer job plans leaving domestic pets abandoned with little or no care on the streets and in vacant rentals.
Local animal rescue organizations are left with the burden of caring for and finding homes for these forgotten pets, which is especially difficult for no-kill, small capacity rescues, such as the Fort Collins Cat Rescue and Animal House Rescue & Grooming.
"Of the 169 cats that we've taken in since January 11, 40 percent were stray or abandoned," said Sarah Swanty of the Fort Collins Cat Rescue. "We get a lot people that call saying we had a bunch of college students living next door, and they've all moved out and left their cat or cats behind. … We don't hear that any other time."
And while larger-capacity animal shelters, such as the Larimer Humane Society, see a steady flow of pet in-take year-round and don't see an increase at the end of the semester, they too witness the effects of irresponsible student pet owners.
In 2007, the Larimer Humane Society took in 4,144 cats and kittens, of which 2,619 were strays as well as 3,920 dogs and puppies, of which 2,661 were strays.
And while the shelter does not keep specific record of student or employment status for pet ownership, Cary Rentola of the Larimer Humane Society says they encourage younger pet owners to plan ahead and realize the responsibility that they will be taking on as an owner of a pet who can live anywhere from the teens to the twenties.
"A lot of students may not know where they are going to be living in a year," Rentola said. "That's a time in your life when things can change quickly, and things can change a lot."
Lack of future planning is one of the primary reasons local animal shelters are seeing abandoned or surrendered pets. Animal House Rescue & Grooming, which has only been open since last July, witnessed this in their first couple of months in operation.
"We got a ton of calls in from college students wanting to bring their dogs in because they are moving or just haven't planned ahead," said Ali Eccleston of Animal House Rescue & Grooming.
The dog rescue has implemented a stringent adoption process, which requires adopters to be 21 to ensure responsible owners are taking home pets from their shelter.

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