The cost of living crisis is forcing a growing number of owners to hand them over domestic animal to charities and rescue organizations as food bills and vets’ fees increase.
Older people and middle-income earners are the biggest groups leaving their cat’s, Independent can reveal.
caseload on both dogs trust and protection of cats while at record levels RSPCA Officials are dealing with 25 percent more abandonments year over year.
And it comes as struggling owners are being encouraged to use pet food banks to feed their animals as the cost becomes prohibitively high for many.
Cats Protection says there is a 90 per cent increase in the passing of cats among older people in 2022 compared to the year before.
Some 400 older owners asked Cats Protection to take their cat in, with a waiting list of animals needing to restart.
The charity used modeling based on handover data to judge which types of owners were most affected by the inflation crisis, and saw a 44 per cent increase – 900 – in families handing cats over to the charity last year Went. The number of young single people who gave up cats increased by 58 percent to 200.
Meanwhile, owners asking the Dogs Trust charity to take their pets in increased by 19 per cent in the last month alone, from 42,000 in November,
A leading dog welfare charity has seen a rise in people wanting to give away their best friends
(Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
Last year the RSPCA’s Animal Kindness Index found seven in 10 pet owners were worried about the cost of caring for their animals and a fifth were concerned about how they would feed them.
Inflation is running at 10.5 per cent, and despite government intervention, average energy prices have almost doubled to £2,500 in six months and are set to rise to £3,000 in April 2023.
Nearly one in three (31 percent) dog owners are concerned that the cost of living will reduce their ability to care for their pet this year. Dogs Trust Found In a YouGov survey earlier this month.
Cats Protection says the majority of people who give up pets are middle-income people
(Getty Images)
Cats Protection said that, unusually, most abandonments are coming from middle-income earners, with trouble spots particularly in the east and south of England and Wales.
Animal-welfare campaigner Dominic Dyer last year urged the ministers Millions to set up “cost of living pet crisis fund” amid fears dogs And cat’s could be put down or given up because people were struggling domestic animal‘ bill.
Both the RSPCA and Blue Cross have set up pet food banks for owners and animals, saying the demand for help is at record levels.
Blue Cross says, “No pet should go hungry and no one should have to choose between feeding themselves or feeding their pet.”
Both charities, which are also appealing for donations, have online tips for owners on how to save money to encourage people to keep their pets if possible, so that fewer are in need.
The sites of local food banks can be found on their websites.