TO THE EDITORS:

When did caring for animals become another way to get money from your tenants?

It used to be you paid a security deposit to cover any damage to the rental property. Now I have to pay a security deposit, plus a non-refundable $300 fee for each pet (I have three cats I took in when nobody else would take responsibility for them), plus $30 per pet a month, in addition to the rent, which has gone up $50 in three years.

And if the pets do any damage to the carpet, the tenant has to pay to replace it.

I've already paid $2,000 in monthly pet fees since I moved in, which would cover any damage they could possibly do. I've gone from paying $860 to $960 in three years.

Oh, I know, "You can move if you don't like it." But try finding a rental property that doesn't say "no pets." Between the military, a job in Baltimore and moving back here to be near my family, I've moved 13 times in 27 years.

I've lost my job, my house, my retirement fund and my health. I'm battered, broken, beaten down, tired, sick and now too poor to move again. I feel helpless, stuck and squeezed from every angle.

It's a shame, with people losing jobs and houses, it's the innocent animals that suffer the most. They get dropped off at the Humane League or are left "out in the country" (which you can't even find here anymore, thanks to builders) or they're just left to fend for themselves.

I will not get rid of my cats like they're yesterday's news. Would you do that with a child you could no longer afford?

It's sad to say but, in this county, it's every man, woman, child and animal for themselves. God Help us.

Kim Rineer
Lancaster