Standing on her hind legs to greet any potential owner who might approach her glass-doored kennel, Harriet is a black English Cocker Spaniel that has been abandoned as a profound cost-of-life crisis , which prompts a growing number of Britons to part ways with their pets.
She was found running along a busy road in London when eyewitnesses saw her being pushed out of a car and one of them is 206 Dogs and 164 Cats Currently being looked after by rehabilitation centers run by the Battersea Animal Charity.
It’s a similar story in other centers around the country—some have seen record inquiries for dog and cat returns—as the hardest pressure on living standards since at least the 1960s has put many owners at the extra cost of food. And forces hundreds of pounds to decide. Vet bills are no longer manageable.
“We are concerned that there is going to be a bigger reason for people to bring their dogs to Battersea,” Steve Craddock, who manages the center in south west London, told Reuters.
Exotic pets such as snakes and lizards are also proving to be very expensive due to the need for specialist heating and lighting.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) told Reuters that three snakes, including an 8-foot (2.4 m) boa constrictor, were recently thrown into pillow cases outside a reptile shop.
The trend, which comes after a surge in demand for pets during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in a country known for its love of animals, reduced households’ incomes, to energy bills in January last year. exceeded three times.
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The Dogs Trust, which currently has 692 dogs in need in 21 centers across the country, said the last time something like this was seen was in the wake of the 2008 financial crash.
The trust’s director of operations, Adam Close, said: “This cost crisis has hit us faster than people expected.”
There is pressure that the charity is considering whether it should expand an emergency aid fund, usually reserved for people on welfare benefits, who need short-term financial support to keep their pets. Required for more middle-income earners.
Animal Charities say they are also concerned that the pressure on living standards will affect charities, although they are not looking into this yet.
In Battersea, some pets are being resettled. magpie is one British The short-haired cat became pregnant after two years of the owner realized they couldn’t stand kittens. All four of her kittens have now found new homes.
But this is unlikely to be the case for most animals, with another charity, WoodGreen, saying that applications for animal adoption have dropped from about 10,000 a month to 100 during the lockdown.
Pilar Gómez-Igbo, an assistant editor, could have been a potential owner, but after doing some research she is now concerned about the additional costs.
“As the change in cost of living became more apparent, yes definitely, it added to the list of things to seriously consider,” she said. “I’ll make myself wait a bit.”
This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed.
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