When people suffer financially, their animals face hardship, too. At the beginning of the year the Humane Society warned about about shelters being overwhelmed. Dogs and cats were losing their families when those families lost their homes. Now we're hearing about all kind of animals suffering in the financial downturn. Basically any animal that depends on humans is a little bit less secure.

Dogs and Cats
Shelters around the country report a surge of animals surrendered. Some have surely been forced into the situation, but lots of animals seem to be cast out as if they were impractical luxury goods. In Los Angeles, an 11-year-old shepherd was left scared in the shelter; the Animal Shelter of Sterling, MA, tells the Worcester Telegram that they haven't seen this many surrendered animals in 15 years; dogs in Dallas are being dumped on the side of the road. And, as I wrote about earlier, some people cruelly abandoned their pets in the house as a way to inflict suffering on the bank -- never mind what it did to the animal.

I like critters. And I like to watch the wild things that come to my backyard. In order to encourage that, I have bird feeders in my backyard. Keeping them filled can be a strain on the wallet but it's easier a buck at a time.

This little bird feeder opens at the top and holds a full bag of the finch food shown here.

Seed and feeder are $1 each. You can also get a bigger bag of mixed seed for the same price. I keep only bird food that is peanut and sunflower seed-free in one feeder so that the squirrels will leave it alone. Another flat open feeder contains peanuts for my busy-tailed friends and there's a wire hanger containing a suet cake, as well. The suet often attracts woodpeckers.

Dollar stores have bags of peanuts in the shell in the people food aisle, as well as suet cakes for $1 each.

Marlene Alexander is a freelance writer and dollar store diva. She writes about free decorating ideas and tips using only items found at the dollar store.