Heaven Can Wait Animal Rescue Foundation has seen the amount of pet surrenders almost triple in the last six months.

Typically the rescue would receive 25 to 30 calls about surrenders every week, and since December those calls have remained high at 75 to 100 calls a week.

Kim Hessel, founder and president of Heaven Can Wait, says a struggling economy is to blame.

"I do attribute a lot of that to what's going on with the economy... I think people are worried about their jobs or, in some cases, already lost their jobs and now they're struggling to keep their pet. When times are tough, it's sad to say, but animals typically are the first thing to go."

She says she's doing her best so families can keep their pets.

"If you need a couple big bags of dog food to tide you over we can help you with that, we do have extra food we can share," Hessel says. "If it's veterinary care, your animal has been a little bit sick and now you're not sure how you're going to pay for veterinary care and you're worried about much it's going to cost, we can help you with that. Maybe we get one of our vets to look at your animal, maybe it's not as serious as what you're worried about. In some cases people don't want to hear that, they just say "Will you take it or not?"

Once the rescue has exhausted their options and if they have the space they will accept a pet, but if not, other rescue groups will be recommended.

Hessel urges people not to do anything rash as most regret it down the road.

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