The Cost of Living Crisis: Concern over rise in abandoned pets

What the report highlights is how the cost of living crisis not only impacts individuals, but also rescue centres and the lives of volunteers, who are relied heavily on to keep centres running. The costs for veterinary care rose, with external veterinary costs increasing by 95% and in-house veterinary costs by 83%. Medicine costs have also risen, as fewer people are able to provide for the charities since it is more difficult to donate as much as before.

Owen Sharp, CEO of Dogs Trust, said: “The UK is fast heading towards a situation in which, due to the cost-of-living crisis, we’ll have a surplus of dogs whose owners need to give them up, but a deficit of people who can afford to take on a new dog. If you’re struggling to afford looking after your own dog, we’ll do all we can to help. I’m afraid we can’t promise miracles, but we’re always here to listen without judgement, talk through the options and give dog owners the benefit of our expert knowledge.”

These results are correlating with the fact that people who adopted animals during the pandemic were ‘mostly unprepared and did not have experience owning a pet before’, ADCH reports in the survey.

Halita Obineche, Executive Director of ADCH, said: “There was a huge surge in people getting pets in lockdown and we are dealing with the fallout. Inexperienced owners unable to manage pets with behavioural issues caused by poor training and a lack of socialisation; workers returning to the office; and now the rising cost of living, all combining to create a national animal welfare crisis.”