Across the county, they're landing in animal shelters.

Family pets, their lives upended by the financial woes of their owners.

Mesa County Animal Services is called out to assist law enforcement whenever an abandoned animal is reported.

Sometimes they've been left inside a foreclosed home or dumped in a public place.

Penny McCartney, with Mesa County Animal Services, says, "Sara is really a very nice dog that was obviously forgotten by her owner for some reason, and left maybe in a place they thought she would get some assistance."

Sara, a hound dog, is one of the many dogs and cats either abandoned or surrendered to animal shelters.

She was left at Sportsman's Warehouse.

"They kept her for several hours, hoping that her owner would come back,” McCartney said. “When they didn't come back they called us. We picked Sara up, held her for the stray time, tried to find her owner, we weren't able to do that, so she's gong to a forever home."

Animal Services is no stranger to abandoned pets.

In fact, it's fairly common but the numbers are going down.

"Last year we had 265 animals released to us because their owners couldn't afford them and this year the number is down to 114," McCartney said.

Mesa County says it's doing far better than much of the country.

Still, it urges pet owners to start early in finding a new home for their pets if their financial situation is deteriorating.

"We like to think of our self as the last resort," McCartney said.

Animal Services says if you see an animal that obviously doesn't have an owner around, the best thing you can do is tried to find that owner or call Animal Services.