The Antietam Humane Society in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania is home to hundreds of abandoned house pets and strays. For the coming holiday season, the pets will not only have a home at the shelter but will also be enjoying Christmas with the help of community residents who donated cash and supplies to the shelter that will help provide for the needs of the animals in the facility.

The society, which serves as cat and dog shelter, as well as home to other homeless pets, has received donations from people worth thousands of dollars. Others have also sent items that are needed by the shelter such as toys, laundry detergent, pet food, pet treats and cat litter. Officials from the society have revealed that the donations will keep them afloat during the winter months. They also expressed gratitude towards people who made donations despite the hard economic times.

According to society officials, they expected donations to plummet during the 2010 Christmas holidays as economic difficulties hurt neighborhoods all around the area. However, they reported that a big number of people have found a way to reserve some of their earnings for the shelter to help the abandoned house pets living in the facility.

In addition, adoptions of cats, dogs and other animals living in the facility have reportedly risen compared with Christmas of last year despite the high number of foreclosures. A total of 18 dogs and 15 cats were adopted by families all around the community in December of this year. This is considerably higher than December 2009 when 11 dogs and five cats were adopted by various households. However, officials have revealed that the shelter remains full; so for now, they are prioritizing strays until more room can be found for other pets.

The society has also revealed that the waiting list for pets being given up by their owners has gotten really long, with some entries being there since March of this year. They reported that a lot of owners of foreclosed homes have gotten their pets listed at the shelter. Majority of the abandoned house pets that were taken in by the society were from owners forced to relocate to places where pets are not allowed or from families who can no longer afford the upkeep of these pets. Those who are interested to buy foreclosures might also want to look into adopting these pets.

Original Post: Abandoned House Pets Receive Gifts from the Community on ForeclosureDeals.com.