Another heart breaking story out of Brazil

[Paa Langfart]

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ILHA FURTADA, Brazil — Eduardo Mayhe Ferreira has heard the stories for years. There was an island off Brazil’s southeastern coastline that looked deserted but wasn’t. Hidden within the dense tree cover were hundreds of abandoned animals.

Officially named Ilha Furtada, it was known to almost everyone as Ilha dos Gatos: Island of the Cats.

Along this sun-soaked coastline, a global phenomenon is playing out. These are the pets left behind by the pandemic. The coronavirus crisis has left millions of pet owners dead or impoverished, unable to tend to their animals. In wealthy countries such as the United States, shelters and personal networks have absorbed much of the surge. But across the developing world, where shelter systems are less robust and street animals are common, a growing number of animals have simply been abandoned.

Coronavirus Brazil: Pet abandonment soars at Brazil’s ‘Island of the Cats’ amid pandemic - The Washington Post