STRAY BRITAIN
Hard-up owners dump their pets
BRITAIN faces a crisis of stray pets as cash-strapped owners dump their dogs and cats to save money.
Animal welfare chiefs are already struggling to house surging numbers of abandoned pets.
And with the cost of living set to continue soaring, experts fear it will get much worse.
The RSPCA said that last week a dedicated team was providing round-the-clock care to a litter of 11 newborn puppies abandoned in a bin bag near Huddersfield.
It also told the Daily Star: “While our centres are close to capacity, we are still taking in the neediest animals and these will be going into private boarding at high expense to the charity while we wait for spaces to open up.”
“We fear, however, that the crisis will lead to more animals being abandoned by their owners or being relinquished to charities who are already struggling to keep up with demand. “The RSPCA has seen an increase in the number of visits to our web page about ‘giving up pets,’ rising 21% from 50,772 (first five months of 2020) to 61,467 (first five months of 2022).”
It also took in 49% more rabbits, 14% more cats and 3% more dogs in the first five months of 2022 compared with the same period in 2021.
The Dogs Trust has this year already taken 13,000 calls from owners who need to give up their pooches – a 58% rise on 2021. Chief exec Owen Sharp said: “We’re re-homing and fostering dogs as quickly as we can – but as soon as we free up a kennel space, there’s a dog to fill it.” Andrew Gillon of the National Animal Welfare Trust added: “For the first time, almost all of our centres have waiting lists for animals coming into us. “Financial reasons are always central to why people have to relinquish their pets.”
PETS were one of the great saviours of the lockdown.
Millions of us took on a dog or cat, and the benefit to the nation’s collective mental health was enormous.
There were worried voices at the time who feared that new owners may give up their pet when we were all allowed to go back to “normal”.
And the escalating cost-of-living crisis has caused this to snowball.
Rescue centres are seeing a huge number of people who are being forced to dump their animals because they can’t afford them.
This is on top of those whose lifestyle has returned to the way it was pre-pandemic and cannot commit to caring for them.
As a result, centres themselves – who do a fantastic job – have no more room.
They say it will lead to thousands of stray pets left to walk our streets.
It’s easy to point fingers at who is to blame here. There will be some owners who have no choice, and others who don’t deserve as much sympathy. But one thing is definitely true.
This is not the fault of the animals, and they are the ones who will suffer most.