Something is deeply broken. Across the country, loving families are being torn apart from their pets — not because they don’t care, but because the system is making it impossible to keep them.

In Chicago, a man tearfully surrendered his dog because he couldn’t afford treatment for an ear infection. In Louisiana, a young woman and her son were forced to say goodbye to her beloved German Shepherd because her landlord banned him as a “restricted breed.” The little boy cried as he had to say goodbye to his best friend. These are not isolated stories — they are becoming the new normal.

Our pets are not luxuries. They are family. They are the heartbeat in our homes, the comfort at the end of a hard day, and part of the very fabric of who we are. Yet for many Americans, it’s becoming harder — and sometimes impossible — to hold on to them.

Corporate veterinary chains are buying up local practices, and prices are skyrocketing. A basic emergency room visit now starts at $2,000 just to walk through the door. The days of incremental, affordable care — when your vet would work with you to find manageable options — feel like they’re disappearing. Families are left with impossible choices: pay thousands or surrender the pet they love.

And then there are the housing restrictions. Entire breeds — many of them the most common dogs in our nation — are banned from apartments, public housing, and even some private rentals. Pit bulls, German Shepherds, Rottweilers, Dobermans, Huskies, and mixes of any of them are on countless “restricted lists.” Animal shelters are paying the price, overflowing with loving dogs whose only crime is their breed or their size.

We need to ask ourselves — what will happen when pets are no longer an option for middle-class families? What happens to our humanity when the simple joy of loving a dog or cat becomes a privilege for the wealthy?

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Here’s what you can do:

• Talk to your local policymakers and insurers about ending breed and weight restrictions in housing.
• Support your local animal shelter — they are on the front lines, caring for the pets and families left behind.
• Advocate for fair, accessible veterinary care. Ask your vet about options, community clinics, and wellness funds.
• Speak out. Share stories. Demand better.

Because keeping pets in loving homes shouldn’t be a luxury. It should be something we all have the right — and ability — to do.

Until every pet has a home,