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Pets dumped by hard-up families
Tuesday 20th May 2008, 11:39AM BST.
Pets are being dumped by hard-up families in the West Midlands because they cannot afford to look after them, the RSPCA said today.
Rising energy costs, food prices and the effects of the global credit crunch are forcing many to make a choice between keeping their pet and paying their bills. Rescue centres and vets in the region say they have been inundated with abandoned dogs, cats and rabbits and also calls from owners asking for their pets to be taken off their hands.
Older animals and those with illnesses are most likely to be dumped as vets’ bills increase.
Animal welfare nurse Joyce Clarke, from Wednesbury Animal Sanctuary, said the crisis was getting worse and people were coming up with more and more “silly excuses” for dumping animals.
“It is terrible and the excuses are getting worse, with stupid reasons like the cat doesn’t match the carpet,” she said.
“We get an increase before holidays or people go away and just leave the animals behind. But a lot of people are getting their houses repossessed and that’s one reason we get sometimes.
“People can go out and drink, smoke and waste money on designer clothes but don’t want to spend it on doing anything for their animal.”
Staff at Sunnyside Kennels in Coven, near Wolverhampton, were expecting to be near their full capacity today as they take more than 50 calls a week from owners wanting to off-load their dogs.
Manager Karen Doy said: “We mainly deal with abandoned pets but recently we have received a lot more calls from people asking us to take their dogs and re-home them.
“We are more geared up for strays so if we can’t help then we give them the number of another kennel.”
Regional RSPCA spokeswoman Judith Haw said the number of abandoned animals in Staffordshire and the Midlands was increasing, possibly due to the rising cost of living.
She said the region saw a 73 per cent increase in the number of abandoned animals rescued by the RSPCA last year.
German pointer Rosie was abandoned and taken in by SAD Rescue in Oldbury. While a permanent home is sought she is with the Wallis family from Wall Heath.
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I dont like the thought of abandoned animals as I have a cat and love her to bits but I do see why some people do it. The vet bills are so expensive and if you cant afford pet insurance then you cant afford vet bills if they arise. My cat has a skin allergy but the drops she requires are so expensive and I have very little money but this does not mean I dont deserve a pet. To stop this abandoning then the vets should lower the bills to able the poor people to afford them or at least set up a weekly payment scheme.
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I am a foster carer and a big animal lover. Some people treat their children in the same way so until something is done about that – the pets have got no chance. In fact, it’s harder to get a dog from the kennels than it is to have kids!
I agree with Damian regarding the vets bills, they are astronomical. I took my dog to the vets recently and the vet who was dealing with him didn’t know what the lump was on his leg and asked me to come back and see a senior vet the following day – you can imagine my shock/horror when I went to make the new appointment and was charged £48.00!
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But surely people can check the costs of vet bills before they buy the pet.
The problem is there utter stupidity of some of the people who live in the Black Country – it has the lowest proportion of people with post- school qualifcations in the entire country, so it follows that the people are more ignorant.
We should be required to have a licence to own a dog, where you can prove you have the space to keep it. The cost of getting the licence will be high enough to discourage unemployed and stupid people from keeping pets. Licenced animals can have a chip in them so unless animals can be identified and destroyed. Simple.
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Dear all!
It is sad indeed when a pet is dumped like an old
shoe just because the cost of keeping a pet is
becoming prohibitively high!Pets are just not like
old shoes;they lose everything they have ever
known as home,familiar people,surroundings,a
place where they felt safe,all gone in a flash!
Animals have feelings too,and can become very
distrustfull of people after such an experience,
and often become unfit as pets.Think first about
the consequences of owning a pet,like going out
for just a day,never mind a holiday,the costs a
vet can bring along when an animal becomes ill
or old,sometimes even owning a car can be cheaper!
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Rebecca, thank God you are not in charge:-
“Licenced animals can have a chip in them so unless animals can be identified and destroyed.”
wtf? You seriously need help if you are suggesting this as a valid point.
Also your comment about “there” utter stupidity, your own education can not be that good to make basis grammar mistakes like that.
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Rebecca you are correct, but I’d take it a step further in making it necessary to have a licence to own any kind of pet, dog, cat, rabbit, etc.
My neighours have abandoned their cat, their rabbit (both dead) and nothing stops them from getting anything else.
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Usualy a case of family has kids and the kids want the pet.
The novelty wears off as we all know and teh pet is well left alone.
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Rebecca – what a small minded, generalising bigot you are.
So according to you, people in the West Mids are thick, ignorant and don’t deserve animals.
You don’t sound like such a quality person yourself.
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I have to disagree Rebecca, only the caring dog owners would get a licence for their animals and how would you keep a check on people? Although I understand your reasons for suggesting this.
It’s about time that animals were stopped being considered as ‘throw away’, my own dear boy was abandoned and found half starved because someone found he had cdrm and couldn’t be bothered to care for him anymore.
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Rebecca, that’s naughty I know university graduates who live and work in the Black Country. On the other hand have you seen how much it costs to keep kids, I mean there’s taking my smallest to dance class, then my 10 yr old son to to judo and football, and blow me, if it’s not me picking my big son and his girlfriend up from a party here, and a festival there. I’ll suffer the expense of a dog over these three any day!
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So Rebecca, you are suggesting that anyone who doesn’t have a degree etc is stupid? Tell that to Sir Alan Sugar I’m sure he would love you!
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i agree with rebecca- Bring back dog lisences.I have neighbours who go on holls and leave the cat and hampster home alone. I have 2 dogs and they are treated better than hubby but I know that some just have them and then get fed up when it ignore them. You should always look into the cost of animals and also the vets should lower the costs of their bill. The black country and education statement well – surely that show the stupidity of the person who made the statement
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Anon and Rebecca – Before you post anything on here concerning the supposed lack of education in the black country, may i suggest you use spell check on your computer, as your education standards, by your own poorly spelt admissions, can’t be that high themselves. I disagree with the introduction of licences. I do agree there should be a system in place to vet owners and also to help them with medical bills.
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