WASHINGTON — The people started coming in during the winter, adults and kids gathered in the cramped lobby of the Montgomery County (Md.) Humane Society shelter to hand over their pets. It's a largely hidden consequence of the housing meltdown: a spike in the number of animals being turned in or abandoned as residents unable to pay their mortgages leave their homes.

"We get give-ups all the time, but typically it's someone with allergies or a young animal with behavior issues," said Kathy Dillon, the facility's operations coordinator. "Now every week we're seeing whole families come in to say goodbye to a longtime pet because they have to move. We've had a lot of children in tears."

In the Montgomery shelter, about 15 percent of animals received in the past two months are a result of foreclosures or related economic dislocations, according to J.C. Crist, the county Humane Society president. That's up from about 3 percent last year for similar reasons. The facility takes in about 700 animals a month, he said, including many from surrounding counties.

"I just had a beautiful 12-year-old golden retriever given up by a wonderful family because they had to find temporary housing," Crist said. "This is incredible. And I know we haven't hit the peak."

In two of the shelter's cat rooms, a majority of the stacked cages are marked with star-shaped stickers reading "Golden Oldies," meaning the pets inside are 7 years or older.

Based on her interviews with the owners who drop them off, Dillon said the influx of mature cats also stems from the economic downturn, as people are forced to move or simply can't afford an elderly animal's vet bills

Likewise for the serene black mixed-breed dog she stopped to pet in the adjacent room, the former companion of a man who said he was losing his house.

"These animals are obviously well cared for and socialized," Dillon said. "We haven't seen this before."

The pets brought in by their distraught owners are actually the lucky ones, Crist said.

More worrisome is the increasing number of animals simply set loose or left behind in empty houses by owners who suddenly have to move into no-pet apartments or a friend's spare room.

"We usually get the call from the bank or whoever finds it, and we go out to retrieve the animal, if it's still alive," Crist said.

Real estate agents across the country have found themselves in the pet savior business as foreclosure rates have climbed. Elizabeth Weintraub, a real estate columnist for About.com, recently wrote a rescue guide for agents after hearing about their sometimes-harrowing discoveries of abandoned pets.

"In some low-income areas, you'll find one in about every 20 homes," said Weintraub, who recently came across a malnourished dog in the yard of a house that had been on the market for months. "They just let it go in the back yard. You feel for the owners of these places, but the animals are suffering, too."