Abandoned Pets Increase as Owners Struggle from Rising Cost of Living in the UK & Ireland

07/07/2022
Abandoned Pets Increase as Owners Struggle from Rising Cost of Living in the UK & Ireland

The cost of living within the UK has been steadily increasing since early 2021. Inflation reached its peak in April 2022, leaving UK households exposed to impossible increases in their daily expenditure.

As a consequence, this has resulted in a large cohort of people being unable to maintain the costs and care associated with their household pets.

New owners as well as breeders, puppy farmers and scammers have made the conscious decisions to dump their lockdown animals, abandoning them or placing them within the care of a rescue centre.

The cost of caring for an Animal in 2022

Purchasing a new pet can be exciting. However, they are a big commitment. They are expensive and require plenty of exercise, a healthy diet, and a loving home.

The People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals reckons a dog’s potential lifetime cost could range from anywhere between £25,000 to £30,800, varying depending on the dog’s size, breed and how long they live.

Prior to their purchase, numerous individuals fail to conduct adequate research into the costs surrounding an animal’s care and maintenance. The Covid-19 Pandemic had a large part to play in this as according to the BBC, more than 3.2 million UK households bought their first pet on impulse within March 2020.

The increasing cost of living is forcing households into financial hardship and as a result they are no longer able to afford to keep their animals.

Animal Rescue Centres are being stretched to the breaking point

As a result of this crisis, rescue centres have been placed under fierce pressure. The RSPCA reported a 29% increase in the number of pets in their care in comparison to previous years, blaming the rising cost of living and the Covid-19 lockdowns.

Hope Rescue stated they were the busiest they had been in 16 years, having received 300 dogs since January 2022, double the amount from pre-pandemic levels. The charity additionally reported 20 to 30 calls a day from owners declaring their financial situations had changed and were no longer able to afford to care for their pets.

Rescue centre’s have already accommodated more animals than they can cope with or find homes for, with cats and dogs being placed on a waiting list for a space, as they are at full capacity.

How secure selling of pets can help decrease the abandonment rates of pets

We understand the financial hardship which has been imposed on many in recent times and when it comes to animal welfare, we want your pet to be healthy and happy.

Securely rehoming and selling your pet in a safe environment can help reduce the current abandonment rates, while also ensuring the best possible outcome for your animals.

Trustap is a secure payment platform which allows you to buy and sell anything without the risk of being scammed. Its Escrow style payment service and its partnership with Preloved enables you to find the perfect buyer or seller.

Preloved’s ID verification platform offers customized tools that allows them to verify your identity in a safe and trusted manner. Whether you are a buyer or a seller, verifying identity is important, especially when it comes to high-value or emotional purchases.

If you are looking to buy or sell a pet, Preloved’s partnership with Trustap is the safest way to transact online.

Trustap is a transactions platform that acts as an additional safety net for online payments on Preloved, helping their wonderful users transact with complete peace of mind. Trustap works for both online and face-to-face transactions, allowing Preloved users to buy and sell in a safe way.

By Katie Collins