For many, summer means sunny days and fun with friends. However, to animals, summer may mean losing a trusted owner and a secure place to live.

Students who move back home for the summer often times live with their parents.

And if their parents don’t want a pet in the house, that could mean that the pet gets left behind when moving day rolls around.

Since Charleston is a college town still in the beginning stages of summer, the chances of pets being left behind are increased.

According to a Fox News online article published in 2009, Charleston isn’t the only Midwest college town that has had this problem.

Muncie, Ind., where Ball State University is located, has experienced the problem of pets being abandoned when moving time comes.

However, there is no definite evidence that it is solely college students causing the problem.

“The shelter cannot confirm that all of the animals being left behind are those formerly belonging to Ball State students, though signs points in that direction,” explained the article.

Although most off-campus rentals in Charleston do not allow pets, there are some that do. Most landlords say that they have not seen evidence so far of students leaving pets behind.

Unique Homes owns many properties in Charleston that college students live in during the academic year.

However, only one of Unique’s properties is pet-friendly and an employee there said that the company has not experienced any leaving behind of pets.

Lincolnwood Pinetree and PP&W both said the same about their apartments that welcome pets.

Julie Deters, the manager at the Coles County Animal Shelter said that in the summer, the shelter does receive extra animals that were left to fend for themselves when an owner moved.

“There hasn’t been a large increase, but there has been a slight increase,” Deters said. “It’s cats more than dogs that, when the owner leaves, are left to fend for themselves.”

Deters said that they have received 10-15 more dogs this summer than during the rest of the year, and 10-40 more cats have been received.

“They may be unaware that they can bring (the animals) in without a fee, or they don’t know where we are located,” Deters said about why people may leave animals by themselves. “I can’t say for sure that it is the college students who are doing it, but there is an increase on the campus side of town of cats being brought in.”

Two summers ago, the Coles County Animal Shelter posted fliers all around campus to let students know that they would be able to bring animals, for no charge, to the business area in Merchant Circle where Petropics and CVS Pharmacy are located. The flier informed passersbys that representatives from the shelter would be taking animals from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.

“Students could bring in their animals if they couldn’t take care of them,” Deters said. “Not one person showed up to drop off an animal.”

Deters said that if a college student wants to adopt an animal from the shelter, the shelter always screens the student.

“Nine times out of ten the students will be going to live with their parents after they graduate,” she said. “We call the parents and make sure (the pets) are able to go to the parents’ house.”

The Coles County Animal Shelter is open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and Saturday 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. It is located on Loxa Road next to the airport.

Melissa Sturtevant can be reached at 581-7942 or [email protected].