Dublin pet owners are being urged to think of their pet's futures when creating a will as the DSPCA is seeing a huge surge in pets being abandoned and handed into their centre.
It comes as a new survey for the DSPCA, which was carried out by Lottoland.ie, found that over a half of people (54%) would leave their pet to a family member when they died.
Just 1 in 10 said they’d like their pet to be taken in by friends or relatives whilst the survey also found that just 1 in 14 (7%) people would like their pet to go to a rehoming body or pet charity.
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The DSPCA are also asking the public to consider their pets future when creating a will, as the survey found that 1 in 3 adults were definite or likely to include a charity donation in their wishes.
More worryingly, a further 1 in 3 (33%) make it clear that they definitely would not be including a charity in their list of estate benefactors.
Interestingly, the Lottoland.ie survey for the DSPCA found that over half (56%) of the youngest Generation Z group of 18-24 year olds were most likely to consider a charity in their will, compared to just over a quarter (26%) of the oldest over 65 category.
The national poll which surveyed over 1,000 Irish adults, also found that twice as many men than women would like their pets go to a rehoming or animal charity, whilst 6 in 10 women would prefer their furry friends to go to a family member compared to only 50% of men.
Suzanne McGovern from the DSPCA said “Most pet owners will assume that a family member or friend will take on their beloved pet in the event of their own passing or incapacitation.
"Quite often this is not the case as the majority of calls we take at the DSPCA are from family members who are not in a position to care for the animal.
"It’s a sad and stressful time for everyone involved and in a lot of cases the animals arrive to us with serious and advanced medical conditions. I strongly advise planning for your pets future when considering making a will."
The DSPCA offers a free will service and for more information click here
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