It's already been reported that the housing slowdown has been impacting the livelihood of pets. Some people facing foreclosure turn in their pets to shelters. One of these stranded cats is a 10-year-old cat named Powder. WNBC reports that Powder, a large 44-pound cat, was found wandering around a New Jersey suburb. His owner was an older woman who lost her home.
Shelter director Jennifer Anderch said the older woman recently lost her home and could not keep the 10-year-old cat, whom she called "Powder."
The shelter has been caring for the cat -- who became a local media sensation this week and was dubbed "Princess Chunk" -- since it was found on Saturday wandering the southern New Jersey suburb of Voorhees.
It also turns out that the princess is a prince. A veterinarian who checked the cat Thursday on "Live with Regis and Kelly" determined it's a "he."
In a week with headlines about presidential politics, suicide bombings in Iraq and big baseball trades, the cat has also captured the nation's attention.
In fact, Anderch has changed her voicemail greeting to identify herself as "Chunk's publicist."
Powder is likely getting headlines because of his large size but it is an important story because it calls attention to growing problem of pets being left homeless due to the housing crisis. Other articles have said that Powder eats normally so his weight is probably not from overeating. Powder's owner did call into the Camden County Animal Shelter but said she was very sad and could not afford to take care of Powder anymore. Powder even made it on to the Live With Regis and Kelly show as you can see here in the Dallas News story. You can read still more stories about Powder here.
Here's an earlier video about Powder from CBS before much was known about her.
It's already been 