How would you react if you knew a close friend abanadoned their pet after their home was foreclosed upon?

Define Abandoned.

Did they take them to the pound or leave them to die?

Depending on the circumstances- if they took them to the shelter and had no choice I would not judge them.

If they left their pet to fend for itself, alone and afraid, I would report them to animal control and the police. There is no excuse for leaving an animal to slowly suffer and die.

Such behavior is deplorable and deserves to be punished under the law.
If they do not face punishment then they will just get more pets in the future.

Note: In the latter I would be sure the pet was fed and given water till help arrived.
And they would not be friends to me ever again by a long shot.

First thing I would do is go find the pet and make sure it was healthy. Secondly, I would re-evaluate my friendship with this person. Someone who is a close friend of mine would never abandon an animal. They might find a new home for it or ask me to help, but they would never abandon it.

I had a now thankfully ex-supervisor who decided it was too complicated to move his two cats from Florida to Texas and so had them euthanized. I never had any respect for the man after that.

take the pet in as your own

@Dog Assume, abandoned at the foreclosed home.

@Darwin What? Too complicated to move them? People never get it, that being a pet owner is a life long commitment, not a “until I have other things in my life commitment”.

I agree with @Darwin. Kindness and compassion are kinda requirements for me to consider someone a close friend. It might be painful, but I would tell the person my feelings and break ties with him or her. Someone who can abuse an animal in such a horrible way is not someone I want as a friend.

@The_Compassionate_Heretic Oh my gosh. I cannot imagine that. Is the pet okay? And I would call the friend a “former friend” after that. Even taking the pet to the pound would be better than leaving it in an abandoned home.

@Darwin, I am always taken aback when I hear of people turning animals into the pound because they are moving. If I ever leave the state Jack the Pug is coming with me. It just seems like a poor excuse to get rid of a pet.

@The Compassionate Heretic, I would be sad – especially if the pet was just left at the foreclosed home. That is horrible for the pet, the house, the neighbors, it is just plain wrong. I would definitely lose respect for someone who did something like that and would express my disgust then be done with the person.

I would no longer associate with anyone who deliberately left a pet to fend for itself. If they took it to the pound, I would understand, and be supportive.

I am one of those crazy people with more animals than I should have simply because other people abandon them. I was able to re-home a feral cat recently, but generally when an animal lands in my home it gets to live there its entire life. It just has to give up one thing: like Bob Barker I believe in spaying and neutering my pets.

And I would still hesitate to name as friend someone who took their animal to the pound instead of to a no-kill shelter. We have a number of them in our town and they are easy to get to. Our pound has relatively few enclosures for animals and so euthanize the majority of the animals that end up with them.

When I was a kid and my father was transferred overseas we took all four of our cats with us. Several years later when we returned to the United States we brought three of those cats and a dog back with us. Our pets are members of our family.

I would have no respect for them.

I hate when I go to the SPCA, and I read all the tags that say “abandoned by owner-moving” seriously?! It took six months for us to find an apartment that had all the criteria we needed, plus cats allowed. The only time I gave a pet of mine up, was a dog who barked too much and people in my old complex complained, but he went to my parents house until I could take him with me (they have since grown way too attached, I could never take him back haha)
ETA:
This is the only situation where pets are like children. If my husband and I fell on hard times, we would never give our child up for adoption! Why would we do so for our pets? We provide for them until they pass on. That’s that.

Would no longer consider them friends and take the pret as my own.

Considering that my friends call me at all hours when they find an abandoned pet or hurt pet, because they know we’ll take care of the pet…I would be disgusted.

My friends (hopefully) realize that I would never judge someone based on their financial means, or lack thereof, I would hope that I would be the call they make when making decisions about their animals. Even reptiles, though I really am not a huge fan of them, I would foster the animal – or find someone that would.

I would go rescue the animal, or hope it could still be rescued. I would determine if I could care for the animal or someone else that works in the same foster program could care for it, and get the animal settled.

Now, as far as the friend, I know that in my heart, it would change how I viewed that person. I can’t say I’d let them go, empty-handed, but I know it would be towards the end of the relationship. I’d make sure they had food, gas money/grocery money, but that would be it. I don’t think I could even turn down a phone call, but I wouldn’t be running over to have Saturday night dinner and drinks, any time soon.

My friends, true friends, know they can approach me. They know my hard times – more than I’ve ever revealed online, (and I’ve revealed alot!). If they couldn’t trust me, then I would know there were fundamental problems with our relationship, to begin with. It would be a time to part ways.

I would be outraged. Hopefully, we would be good enough friends to remain as such once I let them have it with both barrels (figuratively).

I would no longer be friends with a person like that. It points to a lack of responsibility and sheer laziness.

Very negatively toward the friend. I would express my disgust to him/her.

And then I would rescue the animal with my animal-rescue organization.

I don’t condone leaving a pet behind but I also know that people often make poor decisions when their backs are against the wall. It can’t be easy losing your home and all that goes with such a major event in ones life. I’m not trying to make excuses, but I’m willing to keep from judging them quite as harshly as others here.

If a friend abandoned an animal in place of being responsible and bringing it to a center, I would cease being friends with that person. It’s fucking disgusting behaviour, and shows that the people think nothing of responsibilities they take on themselves.

So is the animal ok or not?

They would definitely be a “former friend”, not a “friend”. I’d call the authorities.

Pist!