Cost of Living Sees More Pets Abandoned

The first four months of this year have been the busiest in our 16-year history and this is only going to intensify as cost of living takes its toll on people's pockets. We have taken in nearly 300 dogs at the rescue centre, which is nearly double pre-pandemic levels. With many owners turning to us in desperate situations, we are receiving between 20 to 30 calls a day from owners saying their financial circumstances have changed. We are hearing from people who are struggling for money, they can't afford vet bills… they simply can no longer provide for their pets and need help. On top of this, we are still seeing quite a high number of dogs that appear to be deliberately abandoned that are coming in to us as strays. 

Our vet bills are always a big cost for us and are currently between £25,000 and £30,000 each month, we can only see our vet bills going one way. Our utilities last year were around £4,000 a month and we are expecting them with the current rises to be around 30% higher than that in the near future. We are expecting our utilities bill to be over £60,000 this year. It really is a worrying time for us all here at Hope Rescue.

You can read the full BBC Wales article here, which has some useful links to support available as the cost of living rises.

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