Battersea Dogs & Cats Home has reported a record number of pets coming through its doors, with a 50 per cent rise in abandoned pets compared to last year.
The charity has received nearly 5,000 calls from struggling pet owners so far this year. Key reasons given are moving into rented accommodation, changes to working hours and insufficient time to care for their pet.
According to Battersea, the most rapidly growing cause of owners giving up pets was moving home, which is up 82 per cent this year compared to 2012.
Pets being given up due to changing work hours rose by 68 per cent this year, and owners claiming to have insufficient time to care for their pets rose by 55 per cent.
The charity says a troubling number of people are buying dogs with limited understanding of the time and effort involved in their care.
“Unfortunately we are seeing more and more people contacting us because they have grown bored or they didn’t realise the hard work involved in owning a dog,” says Liz McWalter, head of intake at Battersea.