It said pet owners had felt forced into "increasingly desperate situations".

BBC: Credit crunch 'prompts abandoned pets rise'

For Wali's part, his loyalty to Larson is constantly challenged by the latter's knack for getting into near desperate situations, this relationship echoed by the larger political drama going on around them.

ECONOMIST: Sundance film festival

"There are very few people that I've met here in the gulf that are in emergency situations, desperate to pay their mortgages and put food on their tables that have not sought other work, other employment, " Feinberg told CNN's Wolf Blitzer Wednesday in response to such grievances.

CNN: Allen: 'Our first goal is to do no harm' in Gulf