CLAIRE LOW | 17/11/2008 12:19:00 PM
Canberra dog rescue and foster charities are facing a busy lead-up to Christmas with some owners using the economic crisis as an excuse to dump their pets, according to two organisations.
ACT Rescue and Foster and Canberra Pooch Rescue are among those dealing with an influx of dogs.
Canberra Pooch Rescue foster carer Maree Sheahan said she saw a man surrendering his dog, saying he was unable to afford to feed it.
''I said, 'Do you drink and smoke?' And he just turned away from me. He wouldn't look at me after that,'' she said.
''To say you can't afford to feed the dog is ridiculous. You don't give away your children.''
Wendy Parsons from ACT Rescue and Foster said it was a bad excuse.
''It's terrible, because if you take on an animal, you take on a commitment,'' she said.
But she said that increasingly there were owners who could not afford to keep up mortgage repayments and were seeking out rental accommodation which often didn't allow pets.
Animal welfare groups were also worried about pet owners who didn't make arrangements for their animals before going away on holidays.
These issues were highlighted yesterday at a Dogs' Day Out on the banks of Lake Ginninderra as part of the ACT Government's 'Round Town program.
About 2000 people and countless dogs of all shapes and sizes from dachshunds to wolfhounds, and samoyeds to Dalmatians turned out to enjoy the day's events.
Proceeds will go to support the work of ACT Rescue and Foster and Companion Rescue and Adoption.
The charities use donated money to acquire dogs on death row from the pound and pay for desexing and microchipping.
They also temporarily house the dogs in the homes of foster carers and find them suitable new families.