The RSPCA is bracing itself for a summer welfare crisis as calls about abandoned animals soared by 50% in June to August last year.
The animal welfare charity received more than 10,000 calls about abandoned animals in just three months last summer (2017) – one every 12 minutes. The number of abandoned animals taken in by the charity also peaked in June 2017 with 850 dumped pets rescued.
Calls made to the RSPCA last summer involved anything from cats left on the street tied up in bags, horses abandoned at the side of the road close to death and dogs dumped out with the rubbish.
This summer, the RSPCA has already seen a distressing number of sick and neglected animals dumped this summer, including, a cat and her kittens left tied up in a plastic bin liner on a Birmingham street and a litter of week off puppies dumped in a box in a Sunderland field.
The RSPCA’s assistant of inspectorate Dermot Murphy, said: “Summer is the busiest time at the RSPCA, and it’s the time we see the most abandoned animals. With the number of calls rising and an increase in the number of animals collected, we are facing another welfare crisis this year as we head into the summer months.
“We see every type of animal abandoned from dogs, cats and small horse to farm animals and even exotic animals like pythons just left out on the street in their vivarium’s. Every animal has specific welfare needs and it’s dangerous to leave any animal abandoned and having to fend for itself.”
Penny (pictured) is an example of the animals rescued by the RSPCA last year (2017). She was found abandoned on a pile of fly-tipped rubbish, collapsed and starving.
Luckily, by chance, she was fund by two men whose car had broken down and spotted her among the rubbish, who called the RSPCA for help. Thankfully, she made a good recovery and is now in a new home.
Dermot Murphey adds: “Abandoning pets should never be seen as a solution to a problem, and we are urging pet owners to take responsibility for their animals. When people take on a new pet – whatever the animal may be they need to research it, make sure it will suit their lifestyle and that they will be able to provide for it for the entirety of its life – however long that may be.”
