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Rescue organizations warn about selling pets out of 'desperation' amid coronavirus, COVID-19

There has been an increase in reports of people selling or giving away their pets because they can't afford to care for them during the coronavirus pandemic.

WATERBORO, Maine — Pittie Posse Rescue and Sanctuary is a non-profit that rescues pit bulls and other breeds in Maine and out of state. Volunteers rehabilitate and train the animals and find them new homes. The organization also runs the Pittie Posse's No Bowl Empty Pet Pantry which provides free pet food from distributions sites in Waterboro and Saco. 

As the non-profit works to help people struggling financially during COVID-19, they are also seeing an increase of people selling their pets on Craigslist or giving them away on social media. Volunteers say this can have a devastating impact on pets and want people to reach out for help first.

"People who impulse take animals aren't prepared to care for them or if they are behavior issues with those animals, they can't be bounced from home to home," Britt Bolnik of Pittie Posse Rescue and Sanctuary said.

The good news: the organization has seen a rise in the number of applications from people who want to foster animals.

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