Dog and cat abandonment soars in UK as owners struggle with cost of living | Pets

There may be an “epidemic” of canine, cats and different pets being deserted as homeowners wrestle to deal with the price of dwelling disaster, the UK’s largest animal welfare charity has stated.The RSPCA stated abandonments in England and Wales had risen by nearly 25% in 2025 in contrast with final yr, reaching their highest charge for at the very least 5 years.Animal charities in Scotland and Northern Eire have additionally witnessed an increase in abandonments, and organisations throughout the UK are anxious there could possibly be an additional improve this winter.The RSPCA’s superintendent, Simon Osborne, stated: “We now have seen a dramatic and heartbreaking rise in abandonments this yr. With winter upon us, with plummeting temperatures and darkish nights, we worry issues may get even more durable. There’s an epidemic of animal abandonment and neglect.”As much as the top of October, 24,270 incidents involving an animal being deserted or dumped had been raised with the charity’s emergency line, up from 19,727 within the first 10 months of 2024.Examples embody seven male terrier-cross pups, aged about 10 weeks, who had been left outdoors the gates of the RSPCA’s Doncaster and Rotherham district department on the weekend as Storm Claudia hit. The puppies had been terrified and cramped in a metallic cage with out meals or water.In September a canine was deserted at an RSPCA shelter in Sheffield with only a notice of his title: Fortunate. {Photograph}: RSPCADaniel Cartwright, the department supervisor, stated: “It’s heartbreaking to suppose that somebody has simply discarded them like this. We’d urge anybody who’s struggling to take care of their animals to hunt assist and help when their pet first wants assist, somewhat than merely abandoning an animal of their second of want.”The RSPCA believes the UK’s value of dwelling disaster has resulted in individuals struggling to pay for pet meals and vet payments. Seven in 10 pet homeowners are anxious about the price of caring for his or her animals and a fifth involved about how they’ll afford to feed them, in response to the charity.A community of pet meals banks has been arrange round England and Wales to assist individuals feed their pets, and the RSPCA has launched a money-saving hub on its web site with tips about how individuals pays for pets.One other attainable cause for the rise in abandonments is the sharp rise in pet possession in the course of the pandemic. As individuals have returned to bodily workplaces, it has grow to be more durable to seek out look after pets.Final month a critically sick terrier was dumped in a sports activities bag on the RSPCA’s Finsbury Park animal hospital in north London. The hospital’s director, Áine Maguire, stated: “We will see from our CCTV that the individual arrived at 4.06am on foot and left him outdoors the principle entrance door.”In September a canine was deserted at an RSPCA shelter in Sheffield with solely a notice of his title: Fortunate.Six puppies, believed to be French bulldog-chihuahua crosses, had been discovered deserted in a black bin bag in a layby in Hull in July. A motorist observed the bag transferring and located the pups inside. They had been dehydrated and starting to overheat.Different animals deserted this yr embody 4 kittens present in a purchasing bag in a litter bin in Penwortham, Lancashire; a hamster found in a cage close to some bins in Slough, Berkshire; and two tortoises discovered useless in March in woodland in Harlow, Essex.Charities in different elements of the UK are additionally reporting an increase in abandonments. The Scottish SPCA stated the variety of calls it obtained within the first half of this yr from individuals saying they wanted to surrender their pets was up by 20% on the identical interval final yr. In Northern Eire, the USPCA stated annually the variety of kittens it was caring for was growing.The RSPCA, which covers England and Wales, has launched an enchantment to lift cash for frontline officers.