Pam Duhamel cried as she recalled the financial hardships that led to the foreclosure of her family’s home and the decision to give away their two pet dogs to an animal shelter.

“My husband and I have been married 35 years. We’ve had our own home 32 of those years. To have to walk away with the dogs also, it’s kind of rough,” Duhamel said Friday. “If we don’t get locked out of the house, we’re going to take them to SICSA on Tuesday … It’s very rough. It’s like I’ve given up a family member.”

Like the Duhamels, many pet owners have been forced to give up their pets to adoption centers and animal shelters due to hard economic times, according to local officials.

“We’ve had people sobbing. That is hard to be a part of. We realize that sometimes people are coming to us because we’re the last option,” said Nora Vondrell, executive director of the Society for the Improvement of Conditions For Stray Animals (SICSA), 2600 Wilimington Pike in Kettering. “We’ve had people who have surrendered their pets because they have lost a home.”

The Duhamels had to give up their dogs, who are a mix of Boston Terrier and Boxer Shephard, because their new rental home lease does not allow more than one dog or dogs of their size.

“My son put them on Craigslist, thinking somebody would be interested in them,” Duhamel said of the efforts her family has tried to make sure the dogs get a good home. “We’ve asked friends. I would say I would be willing to pay for the dog food for the rest of their lives if somebody would take care of them.”

But SICSA ended up being the best option for Butterfinger and Carmello.

“The lady at SICSA asked us, ‘Why did you come here versus another shelter?’ ” Duhamel said. “I told her, ‘Because we don’t want them to die.’ “

SICSA only euthanizes animals for medical reasons, and if all options have been exhausted. Instead, the adoption center focuses on finding “forever homes” for dogs and cats, Vondrell said.

That is not the case at all shelters.

“We euthanize every week, unfortunately,” said James Straley, Executive Director for the Humane Society Serving Clark County, Inc. He added that the Humane Society serves as the county’s dog warden, which operates similar to the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center on Webster Street. The Clark County operation is at capacity with about 80 dogs and 90 cats.

Some pet owners, in an attempt to hold on to their pets, contact shelters and adoption centers for help providing food or medical assistance, according to Vondrell and Naila Randall, manager of PAWS Animal Shelter, 1535 W. U.S. Highway 36 in Urbana. Shelter officials look at each pet owner’s situation when deciding on the type of help they can offer. If assistance cannot be found to help keep the pets in their homes, pets are surrendered to shelters or rescues.

“People are just leaving their pets here,” Randall said. “They call and we tell them that there is no more room.”

As of late last week, SICSA had 126 cats available for adoption with 30 in foster homes. Forty dogs were available for adoption, with 20 in foster homes, Vondrell said. The adoption center began the year with 73 cats available for adoption with 68 in foster care and 20 dogs available with seven in foster care.

PAWS had 24 dogs in its shelter (four over its limit) and had 106 cats (75 over its limit). It’s not uncommon for PAWS officials to arrive at work and find a box of kittens in the driveway, Randall said.

“The thing that we have probably experienced the most is people abandoning their cats,” said Straley. “For some reason, people think dogs are not disposable.”

The Clark County Humane Society also has had dogs dropped off anonymously. Straley believes some pet owners abandon their pets in order to avoid a fee. Depending on the agency, it could cost up to $95 to surrender a pet. Straley recalled one woman dropping off a dog and claiming it was a stray she had found. Shortly after the animal was dropped off, the staff found a microchip that included the owner’s information. The owner turned out to be the woman that dropped off the dog. She eventually paid the $30 intake fee.

The society receives funding for stray dogs through the Dog and Kennel Fund, which Straley said pays for everything dog-related, including animal control.

“If you are not emotionally or financially able to care for your animal, then come and talk to someone at a Humane Society,” Straley said. “If you truly care about your animal, you are not going to dump the (animal) and run.”

“As a community, we are paying for these strays to be picked up,” Vondrell said. “Then we’re paying for that animal to be housed so that owner can reclaim it. Regardless of what you do, the community has to address this issue.”

“There are too many good animals and not enough good, responsible owners,” Straley said.

That is not the case with the Duhamels, who had to literally drag their dogs by the leash in order to get them to a recent SICSA evaluation needed for the intake process.

“Well, we were thinking we hate to do this,” Duhamel said, recalling what she and her husband, Carl, thought as they waited for the dogs to be evaluated. “We had hoped that they would put them together.”

That hope faded when the couple was told the dogs, who are sisters, likely would be separated.

“I would tell them that I tried and that I am sorry,” Duhamel said of what she plans on telling the dogs when they eventually are handed over to SICSA. “If I had a different way to do it, I would.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2414 or kelli.wynn@coxinc.com