Millions of Americans took out mortgages that they could not afford or were misled by unscrupulous lenders and are now facing foreclosure and losing their homes. Homeowners and investors alike are being painted as the victims of the subprime mortgage crisis, but there are others that may end up on the streets with them: millions of pets. The problem is that most of these pets will not be going with ex-homeowners into the rental market, but into already overburdened animal shelters. And an increasing number of pets are simply being left to die in abandoned homes with no food or water.

There are already six to eight million cats and dogs entering shelters every year, and only about half of them are adopted. Anecdotal evidence is showing sharp spikes in the number of animals being left at shelters in areas hit hard by the subprime housing crisis, according to the United States Humane Society. San Jose’s Animal Care Center has seen a definite increase in the number of animals coming in during the past six months, says Julie St. Gregory, the center’s communications director. The foreclosure rate in San Jose jumped 161 percent from 2006 to 2007.

About 64 percent of American households have pets and it is estimated that before the housing crisis is over, between two and four million Americans will lose their homes. That could leave 1.25 million pets at risk of being left to starve or placed in shelters before things ease up.

Luckily for Maddy, a skittish seventeen-month-old spaniel mix, Lucy and Jerry Caires have been actively looking for a new addition to their home at the San Jose Animal Care Center, which is buzzing in preparation for the November 8 Adopt-a-thon during which the shelter hopes to adopt out around fifty animals. Lucy and Jerry say that Maddy seems a little shy. “We hope in a week or so she will come out of her shell,” says Jerry. St. Gregory guesses that Maddy is this way because she was treated badly by a previous owner.

Too often, pets are left in the dust when times get hard and their living expenses become too great a burden for their owners to bear. You can call it being an irresponsible pet owner or taking the easy way out, blame it on pet overpopulation or even on improper animal shelter management; but the fact remains that foreclosures are rising and show little signs of slowing, and increasing numbers of abandoned, neglected and dead pets will follow the trend.

The pet foreclosure problem was so apparent that Assembly Bill 2949 was passed so that Animal Control could rescue animals in abandoned properties. An organization called No Paws Left Behind was created to help place animals in safe hands and shelters are in overdrive trying to keep up with the increase of displaced pets.

“For some years, the argument was that there were too many animals and too little homes for those animals. If that were the case then why is there still a market for breeders and adoption; why is there still a business?” asks Nathan Winograd, director of the No Kill Advocacy Center, an organization whose mission is to end the “systematic killing of dogs and cats.”

Winograd suggests that it is a matter of shelters increasing their adoption events and campaigns, or loosening strict adoption qualifications. At the San Jose Animal Care Center, the adoption process is fairly speedy. Once Lucy and Jerry pick Maddy, the shelter asks that anyone else living with them is present, as well as any other pets they might have to ensure that everyone gets along. The center also checks to see if the adopters rent or own; if you rent they make sure your landlord allows pets.

Maddy and her new owners are given paperwork and a bag of food and shown where they can get a free medical exam before heading out the door. It is a very thorough process for all animals, complete with shots and spaying or neutering.

Sandi Stadler of Palo Alto Animal Services and Kat Brown of San Francisco Animal Care and Control say that people have not been citing foreclosures when dropping off animals–only that they are moving and cannot keep them.

At a no-kill shelter, no more than 10 percent of the animals may be euthanized for behavioral issues or serious illness. According to Nathan Winograd, San Francisco has reached an 84 percent save rate, but San Francisco was not hit as hard by foreclosures as surrounding cities. Shelters that refer to themselves as no-kill have the luxury of turning away animals that they believe cannot be adopted out. Shelters such as Palo Alto Animal Services and San Jose Animal Care Center are open-door shelters that do not normally turn animals away. On average, to spay or neuter a feral cat costs less than $25, compared to $150 to euthanize the same cat.

“There is enough love and compassion in every community to overcome public irresponsibility and for shelters to respond to the issue without population control killing,” Winograd says.

Most shelters offer affordable spaying and neutering, which has been shown to effectively reduce the number of homeless pets, but that is not the answer to the current housing crisis that’s affecting pets and people alike. The best thing that people can do is remember how much they loved their pets before losing their homes.

There is no excuse to leave a pet to die hungry and alone in an abandoned home. Pets are not guaranteed to be adopted or even to live if they are brought to a shelter, but it sure beats the cruelty of outright abandonment. With any luck, the housing market will bounce back, and people will again be in the market for pets to fill their homes and hearts.