Together with our partner hospital we are helping to mitigate economic euthanasia and relinquishment.
Economic euthanasia can be defined as a condition in which euthanasia is elected due to an owner’s inability to pay for veterinary care needed to diagnosis or treat a presenting life threatening condition.
Economic relinquishment happens when the owner signs over their animal companion to a veterinarian or rescue who then takes ownership and pursues treatment and rehoming. While not death, it is a grueling loss for both family and animal and creates an unnecessary burden on the animal welfare system.
500,000 cats and dogs in the US are estimated to be victims of economic euthanasia or relinquishment. According to local veterinary hospitals, economic euthanasia and relinquishment have been on the rise with more incidents occurring since the Covid-19 pandemic. Our goal is to keep animals with their families and out of an already overburdened animal welfare system. The Shelter Data Count reports that, “4% more animals entered shelters than left in 2022. This is up from 2% in 2021. This is the largest gap in the past four years. The number of animals entering shelters continues to slightly increase each year since the pandemic.”
We are partnering with Summit Veterinary Referral Center in Tacoma, WA to provide funding to qualifying cases screeded through our previous pilot program criteria. This program is currently being expanded to offer even more help to those in need. Please consider donating to our Economic Euthanasia & Relinquishment Fund so that we can help keep families together. You can include a note with your donation if there is a specific specialty department you wish for it to go or if you would like to make a donation in honor or memory of your special companion. Please visit Summit’s website to learn more about their departments.