Animal welfare centres are witnessing an increase in pets being placed up for adoption due to the cost of living crisis as their owners become concerned about rising costs. The RSPCA Radcliffe Animal Centre said they are already seeing an increase and are concerned as their bills are rising.
A new report from the RSPCA highlighted that pet owners have become concerned about how they will afford costly operations or food for their pets as 78% say they feel this will impact their animals. A further seven out of ten expressed concern over the cost of care increases with a fifth worried about how they will afford to feed their pets.
Ella Carpenter is the Project manager of the Radcliffe on Trent RPSCA. She says that they are already witnessing an increase in the numbers of animals coming into the shelter. However, she says that the reasons are complex as to why and that they are seeing an end to the adoption boom that happened during Covid.
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"We are seeing animals start to come in for a number of reasons which tend to be complex. We had a litter of gorgeous cross-labrador puppies that were brought in because they couldn't be sold so that is an indication, post-Covid, that the market is changed and the boom of everyone having pets is coming to an end," she said.
Ella highlighted that while prices for puppies soared during Covid, it has now been replaced by people thinking twice about if they are in a position to have a new pet or not. The factors behind adoption during this time may be more complex than people being unable to afford a new pet.
"There is a worry we will start to see more numbers coming into us. We recently had a dog come in who was just five months old and it was a recent purchase that was relinquished as the owner had to accept a promotion in which her working hours were changing. We are going to see more cases like that to people's work life where they have had to increase hours or take a promotion because they cannot afford to turn it down," she said.
"There are a lot of factors that aren't simply because they cannot afford to keep an animal but lots of lifestyle changes too which are based on the rising prices. No one knows what is going to happen in the future especially if prices are going to keep rising."
The day-to-day running of the centre is also a concern with bills increasing. As the winter months are approaching, the centre are concerned about keeping the animals warm along with covering vet bills and maintaining the building.
"We are quite concerned about our utility costs in particular with it coming up to winter. We have solar panel energy but we rely on normal electricity which we need to pay for and heating the kennels. We also have repairs and people who provide services are putting their prices up too. Our costs to run the centre are going up for us so it's a constant worry and challenge," she said.
"Donations will also be squeezed as the public will have less to donate. We have great support which we hope continues but we know that times are difficult for everyone. This will have an effect on the centre."
When it comes to helping the public, the RSPCA offer a number of services including low-cost neutering. Ella highlighted those pet owners who are worried can get in touch with the centre for support.
"We do run a neutering scheme so it keeps it low cost for members of the public in case people are worried about vet bills. People really should consider neutering but private vet bills can be high. We encourage people to contact us for help with neutering as it helps with the influx of kitten numbers we get every year."
She added: "It has implications for us year on year in terms of the abandoned kitten numbers. People can always get in touch with us if they need to rehome animals or need support, it's what we are there for."
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