As some across the country have had to give up their pets to shelters or find alternate homes for them, the financial crisis has had an effect on student pet owners.

Patrick Rives of Athens-Clarke County Animal Control said he has not “seen any increase in the number of animals” coming in, but “when people surrender animals we don’t have a way of statistically measuring their reasons.” Animal Control is “typically pretty close to full,” and a steadily increasing adoption rate, Rives said.

Michelle Rabold, a Ph.D. student from Winterville, is the owner of True Love Canine Rescue, which finds homes for stray dogs. Rabold said there were sometimes issues with “families who have lost loved ones and inherited a pet” they could not afford, and also with “people not able to afford the initial adoption fee” of $175.

North Oconee Animal Hospital has not seen an unwillingness of pet owners to pay for procedures, according to veterinarian Ed Pinson. Pinson attributed this to being a newer clinic. Pinson said the hospital has received “more questions in regard to finances” about procedures from clients, and said some clients “may delay wellness and preventable care due to finances.”

Lynsey Jackson, a senior from Covington, considers herself lucky. She works with Pinson at the clinic and said her pets’ health care has not suffered. “I have adopted out two dogs due to finances,” Jackson said in an interview Friday. “While they are in great homes and I check on them monthly, I feel like all my time and effort put into training them was lost.”

Jackson has her rottweiler, Tia, which makes it “extremely difficult and stressful” to find animal-friendly housing in Athens. “The pet deposit was either insane or my dog was on the restricted breed list or weighed too much,” she said. Jackson added Tia’s care “has never been jeopardized” due to finances, though “during a low point financially last semester I had to switch her to a cheaper food and it broke my heart.”

Large animal owners also are feeling the pinch.

“I was talking to my aunt the other day, she lives in Ocala, Fl., and her friend put up a sign that said ‘If you can’t take care of your horses leave them here.’ She came home and had 12 horses in her front yard,” wrote Desiree Taylor, a senior from St. Simon’s Island, in an e-mail.

Junior Amanda Reinke of Evans said her cousin was able to obtain a horse – Buck – because the previous owner “could not afford to buy the necessary food for the horse or upkeep the pasture.”

“The owner felt bad about this situation but could do no more than sell [the horse] for a very low price,” Reinke said in an interview Friday. When Buck arrived, Reinke said he “had lost a lot of muscle mass” and his “hips were extremely visible and some of his ribs were as well.”

Pinson said he had seen the articles regarding the increases in pet surrenders, and said they “always struck me as a little bit odd.”

“The animal-human bond is very strong,” he said. He was concerned about vet care amid tight budgets.

Jackson said, “I just make sure to budget properly so [Tia] doesn’t have to suffer … Just because times are tough, I can’t take the easy way out and toss her aside.”