As the country's economic crisis deepens, food shortages and rising poverty are forcing once-middle-class Venezuelans to do the unthinkable and let their pets starve, or abandon them in the streets. (Photo: AP)
An abandoned dog so skinny his ribcage is visible waits to be fed at the private shelter Funasissi, in the working-class Caracas neighborhood of El Junquito.
Three rescued cats watch from the top of a fridge as their food is prepared at the private shelter Funasissi.
A veterinarian and part owner of the Funasissi animal shelter, examines an abandoned cat at the private shelter in the working-class Caracas neighborhood of El Junquito.
Katty Quintas, part owner of the Funasissi animal shelter, comes across an abandoned dog rummaging in the trash in the working-class Caracas neighborhood of El Junquito, Venezuela.
Katty Quintas, part owner of the Funasissi animal shelter, plays with her pet dog Sissis at the private shelter in the working-class Caracas neighborhood of El Junquito, Venezuela.
A veterinarian and part owner of the Funasissi animal shelter, grooms an abandoned dog at the private shelter in the working-class Caracas neighborhood of El Junquito.
A quarantined cat sits in a cage at the private shelter Funasissi, in the working-class Caracas neighborhood of El Junquito, Venezuela, after he was rescued on the streets, abandoned by his owners.
An abandoned dog pokes his head out from under a door at the private shelter Funasissi, in the working-class Caracas neighborhood of El Junquito, Venezuela.
Venezuela pets abandoned by crisis-stricken owners