The 18.6 percent unemployment rate in Elkhart County is one of the highest in the country. Other local counties aren't far behind. In addition, the number of people turning to local food pantries for help has doubled. As more families look for ways to cut back on spending, many of them are saying goodbye to a pet.

They’re the faces and stories of perhaps the most helpless in this recession.

“This is Blaze,” said Makenzie Gaughan as she brought the 1½-year-old English mastiff into a play room.

Blaze’s owner brought him to the Humane Society of St. Joseph County a few weeks ago.

“He was giving him lots of hugs and he was crying,” said Gaughan, a supervisor at shelter. “It was very sad. But he also knew he was doing the right thing.”

The dog’s owner lost his job and was living in his car. He couldn’t afford to feed or take care of the pure breed any longer, Gaughan said.

A basset hound named Barbie was also brought to St. Joseph County’s Humane Society recently.

“Her owners came in and they were moving,” said Gaughan. “This is the number one reason why people bring their owned animals here.”

Those stories are becoming more common.

Executive Director of the Humane Society of Elkhart County, Anne Reel, can tell more of the same.

“We just had someone drop off a lovebird last week because he said, ‘I just can't afford it anymore. I can't take care of even this little bird.’”

Reel said her shelter took in more then 1,250 animals in the first three months of this year.

Sixty percent of them came in through anonymous drop-off boxes.

Those night deposit boxes are left open at the end of each day. Once an animal is dropped off and the door closes, it locks.

The morning WSBT visited, six of the eight boxes were full with cats, kittens and two dogs.

“We have no idea what this dog's situation is,” Reel said as she looked at what appeared to be a pit bull. “Obviously he's very injured. He's very sick. It looks like he has mange. He could've been in a fight.”

Reel said the price pets pay in a bad economy is not getting the care they need. She blames the shelter’s large in-take numbers on the economy.

And she believes more people are using the night drop boxes anonymously so they don’t have to pay the $20 donation to hand over their pet during normal business hours.

St. Joseph County’s Humane Society asks for a $50 donation.

Both non-profit organizations say they lower those fees for certain circumstances. But the fees are there for a reason — because pets aren't the only ones paying a price in this economy.

“We do a lot of things here for the animals,” Gaughan explained. “We don't just put them into a kennel and wait for them to get a home. Of course, they're fed twice a day here. If they come in very skinny or malnourished we give them four feedings. We make sure they're fully vaccinated.”

Reel told WSBT in terms of staffing, food and medical care, each animal costs the shelter at least $200.

“And that’s if they’re here for a short time,” she added.

Half the Elkhart County Humane Society’s $390,000 yearly budget money comes from tax dollars, provided by the city and county. The rest comes from donations.

Multiply the 1,250 animals brought in the first three months of this year by an estimated $200 a piece, and that equals $250,000 already.

The Humane Society in St. Joseph County is not subsidized. Executive Director Dr. Carol Ecker says through a contract with the county, the city of Mishawaka and outlying municipalities the shelter gets $122,000 a year.

Dr. Ecker said that money generally pays for the first four days a pet is there. Fundraisers and private donations cover the rest — including payroll.

Ecker also told WSBT the shelter usually runs a $140,000 yearly deficit.

And there’s one more reason the number of left behind pets continues to climb.

“The economy is what's holding people back from getting their dogs and cats spayed or neutered,” said Gaughan.

Reel said that aggravates an even bigger problem because there’s more reproduction of unwanted animals.

“And that's more little mouths to try and feed,” she added. “So all the way around that cycle, that circular cycle, the pets are not getting the proper attention they should.”

The only way for pets like Blaze and Barbie to break that cycle is for a family to adopt them, so they can afford the love, car and attention all animals need.

For more information on the Humane Society of Elkhart County, visit their website.

Click here here to go to the Humane Society of St. Joseph County’s website.