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Compared to a year ago, unemployment claims in Connecticut have jumped by more than 70 percent. And foreclosures are at record highs. People are cutting back, and sometimes have to give up important parts of their life, like the family pet.

For people who don’t have pets, animals can seem superfluous. But those who can no longer afford their horses or dogs say it’s like giving up a member of their family.

“It’s very hard because I love him,” said Virginia Rodriguez, her face wet with tears as she handed over her dog, Shades, to Bridgeport Animal Control. “I’ve had him since he was born. He’s like a kid to me, like my child you know. And it’s very hard.”

Rodriguez is a machine operator who recently saw her paycheck decrease. But even before that, she had trouble affording the veterinarian bills.

“It’s been a year now I can’t vaccinate him or nothing,” said Rodriguez. “My hours went down in my job, I had to move from where I was and now I moved here and the landlord said ‘no, I couldn’t have pets.’ So that’s why I had to get rid of him.”

Bridgeport animal control reported a lot more people are giving up their pets this winter compared to other years. And it’s happening in other parts of the state too. Bridgeport doesn’t keep exact records of why owners bring in their pets. But you start to get a sense when you read the signs hung on each cage.

“This is Sargent. His owner has moved. This is Big Red. The owners can’t keep. This is Maverick. The owners lost their house. And this is Lady who is a Pit Bull. And the owners, it says they couldn’t keep him.”

Not only are more owners giving up their pets in the current economy, according to Bridgeport Chief Animal Control Officer Jimmy Gonzales, more are being abandoned on the street and in the home.

“I’ll get a call usually that a family has been evicted and that I would have to show up either because there have been dogs or cats that have been left behind for either a few hours, a few days,” said Gonzales. “Sometimes it’s been weeks. By the time I’ve gone in I’ve had to pull out an animal or a cat that’s on the verge of dying.”

Despite the economy, shelters like this one are still able to find animals new homes. Finding a home for a dog or cat is one thing, but imagine if it were a horse.

Karen Bacon owns the Second Chance Ranch in Granby, Conn. which finds new homes for horses that are not being taken care of properly or that owners can no longer afford.

Bacon started the horse rescue fourteen years ago. She said this year it’s hard to keep up.

“We are totally chock full and above and beyond that,” said Bacon. “It’s survival for us, too. We’ve got to be able to raise enough money to feed this many animals and care for them and care for them properly.”

Bacon has sixteen stalls in the barn and sixteen horses. She said she’s never seen so many horse owners facing tough decisions.

“Whether they can afford to keep their horse and pay their mortgage or feed their children or whatever,” she said. “So many people have lost their jobs that there’s absolutely no way they can afford to keep the animal.”

And in Connecticut there are a lot of horses. More horses per capita than any other state. Standing next to Bacon was a gray and white horse that’s chowing down on grain and hay.

“That’s Stormcloud right there,” said Bacon. “He’s a registered Appaloosa. Appaloosas have spots, spots all over them. We call them spotty horses.”

Stormcloud’s owner, Kate Lane, brought him here last May, along with her other horse, Breezey. Lane, who works for the postal service and is a single Mom, had had her hours cut. On top of that, as energy costs soared, so did the cost of feeding a horse.

“With the cost of grain going up, the cost of hay going up and my paycheck constantly going down I was just struggling all the time just to pay the grain stores and pay for hay and renting trucks to haul the hay,” Lane said. “And it was just getting overwhelming. It took me three years to come to the decision that this had to be done.”

Lane had Stormcloud for seven years, and Breezey for 26. After Lane gave the horses to the horse rescue Breezey got sick and had to be euthanized.

“It’s the hardest decision I’ve had to make in my life to do this,” said Lane, heartbroken she couldn’t keep the horses for their entire lives.

Though it’s been horrific for Lane, in a way the story of her horses is a positive one. She took care of them. So has the Second Chance Ranch. But Maureen Griffin, the Chief Animal Control Supervisor for the state of Connecticut, said she and her staff are getting more complaints about horses that aren’t being fed.

“We are seeing a general sliding of the condition of the animals,” said Griffin. “We are starting to see horses that are going hungry where the people are making the effort but they just don’t have money to take care of them. There’s no outlet to get rid of them and those are the cases that we are monitoring very, very carefully.”

Griffin said if someone wants to get rid of a horse, there are few options. Most horse rescues are full, and there aren’t many people buying horses these days. Even euthanasia, which costs $500, can be too expensive. Griffin said she worries about the animals.

“We have a really bad feeling that we’re going to see an awful lot of starving horses in the future,” she said. “If the economy doesn’t straighten out the situation for horses could become catastrophic.