Animal charities swamped due to UK's cost-of-living crisis

There is another report today in the news media about animal charities being swamped with abandoned cats and dogs because of a double whammy of major problems. Firstly, there was the surge in cat and dog ownership during the pandemic with those owners now giving up their pets because they've decided they can't afford to keep them which has been exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis. 

In isn't just the cost-of-living crisis which is causing this abandonment of pets. People adopting pets during Covid now see the reality of cat and dog caregiving and have decided that they were unprepared or uncommitted for a lifetime of cat or dog caregiving.

RSPCA shelter. Image: RSPCA

The RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) has reported a 25% increase in abandoned pets during 2022. They say that their employees are overwhelmed at their call centre from owners reporting that they are struggling to feed and care for their animals.

During the first seven months of this year, they recorded 22,908 cases of abandoned pets paired with 18,373 during the same period last year.

They have reported such events as a terrier dog being thrown from a truck travelling at 50 miles an hour and 20 puppies being abandoned in a box in a layby in Essex.

They put most of this problem down to the extraordinary number of 3.2 million cats and dogs that were bought or acquired during the lockdowns coupled with the increased pressure on the finances of many cat and dog owners in the UK who are facing extraordinary bills to heat and power their homes this winter. 

Some economists have predicted 22% inflation in the UK thanks to a projected £6,000 annual bill for a typical family home to provide gas and electricity to that home beginning in the early part of next year.

Cats Protection has seen a rise of 46% in the number of animals on the waiting list in July of this year compared to last year. Peter Shergold, the head of operations at Cats Protection said: 

"This is the worst situation in organisational memory in terms of the pressure on our services to take in cats. The rise is directly linked to the cost-of-living crisis."

I can also see, by the way, problems with the cost of running animal charities. There are reports of numerous small businesses going under because the cost of gas and electricity is just too high so their overheads become unbearable. I can see some small animal charities having to close at least potentially because of the extraordinary rise in the price of gas which has a knock-on effect on the cost of electricity in the UK.

Pet owners are struggling to afford basics such as food and litter for their cats. The extreme cost of gas is due to Putin's attempt to force Europe to loosen their sanctions against Putin. It's blackmail basically. He doesn't care about killing thousands upon thousands of innocent Ukrainian citizens and he doesn't care about the dramatically negative effect that the price of gas is having upon so many organisations and individuals in the UK. In fact, he wants the Brits and Europeans to suffer.

I can remember reading an article about a man who said that he has to use the dregs from his shampoo in order to make ends meet. He could then, and only then, maintain enough funds to look after his cat. But it occurred to me that most people add some water to the bottom of their shampoo bottle in order to get out the last bits because by doing this you can get two or three more washes. I don't think that it is a particularly clever thing to do or something which indicates that a person is on their uppers.

I can remember reading an article about a man who said that he has to use the dregs from his shampoo in order to make ends meet. He could then, and only then maintain enough funds to look after his cat. But it occurred to me that most people add some water to the bottom of their shampoo bottle in order to get out the last bits because by doing this you can get two or three more washes. I don't think that it is a particularly clever thing to do or something which indicates that a person is on their uppers.

I can remember reading an article about a man who said that he has to use the dregs from his shampoo in order to make ends meet. He could then, and only then maintain enough funds to look after his cat. But it occurred to me that most people add some water to the bottom of their shampoo bottle in order to get out the last bits because by doing this you can get two or three more washes. I don't think that it is a particularly clever thing to do or something which indicates that a person is on their uppers.

Also, I think that a lot of people have built into their lives overheads such as subscriptions to smart phone providers, Sky television all broadband Internet. Or they are buying a car on hire purchase as opposed to outright. So, they burden their lives with overheads and they are not prepared to release themselves from these overheads which leads them to a precarious financial situation under the current cost of living crisis. 

They should divest themselves of some of these expensive overheads and ensure that their expenditure is less than their income and then they can put some money aside for those unexpected veterinary bills in a self-insurance policy. 

Animals need jabs against zoonotic diseases to prevent pandemics

Zoonotic diseases are those which can transfer from animals to people. The classic case is the Covid pandemic. Prof Dame Sarah Gilbert, the creator of the AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid which proved so successful and which saved millions of lives, has stated that vaccines and new treatment should be developed to protect animals against diseases that can prove deadly when they jump to humans.

Vaccines against these zoonotic diseases could play a major role in avoiding the next pandemic. Minds are focused on the next pandemic. The monkeypox virus which is currently an issue in the UK is a good example although that will not create a pandemic. However, it's a virus that has been a threat for a long time and it has changed its nature. And it is zoonotic.

Gilbert said that influenza A was around in wild birds for a long time and it started to infect poultry flocks and so I could still spill over into humans. She believes that there is a lot that can be done to protect domestic animals against these infections to avoid humans being exposed to them.

Of course, this also concerns cats and dogs as well as livestock. Covid did infect both captive wild cats and relatively a very few domestic cats. There was a discussion at one time about the possibility of domestic animals creating a reservoir for the virus which may then come back to us in the future perhaps mutated.

There is a need to look forward to prevent the devastation that Covid caused the world. There is also a need, I must add, to demand that the Chinese government compensate the world for the devastation that they caused due to their careless approach to the slaughter of wild animals at wet markets which is now accepted as one plausible cause of the pandemic because those markets allowed the transmission of zoonotic diseases from animals such as pangolins to the people in the market is doing the slaughtering.

Post-pandemic surge in cat adoptions in UK

NEWS AND COMMENT: There was a surge in dog adoptions, mainly purchases of purebred, small dogs, during the coronavirus pandemic. In the UK, the pandemic, as we know it, is nearing its end, we hope. That is the general consensus and it is due to the great success of the vaccination programme which combined with a high level of infections without bad symptoms in unvaccinated, young people has resulted in near herd immunity. Once we get to herd immunity you could probably argue that the pandemic in the UK is over.

Couple of shelter cats ready for adoption as a pair.

Click for factors affecting the success rate of shelter adoptions.

And at this time the Pets4Homes last quarterly report tells us that almost as many cats were rehomed in the first half of 2021 compared with all of 2020. The number rehomed this year so far is 156,193 whereas for all of last year the number is 179,298.

In contrast, dog adoptions have faded from their peak when there was this manic desire to adopt a dog during lockdown. The report states that the previous trends are in reverse with an increased number of available cats and dogs for rehoming. They say that the number of companion animals available for rehoming has risen dramatically. 

Comment: this appears to be a result of impulsive purchases of dogs resulting in a relinquishment of those dogs once the adopters returned to normal in terms of their employment. In short, it appears that some people adopted a companion animal simply for the duration of the pandemic lockdowns.

The report states that the slowdown in demand for dog has come about at the same time that there has been an increase in demand for cats. I don't know what we can make of that. I know we can understand why dogs were adopted during the pandemic. And we understand why they've been abandoned after the pandemic. But why are more cats being adopted at this time?

Perhaps things have got back to normal, more or less. Throughout 2020, which was the year of the pandemic, with social distancing and lockdowns, there was a surge in dog adoptions. That probably weakened demand for cats because the focus was on dogs. When those pressures to adopt a dog had passed people reverted back to adopting shelter cats hence the statistics mentioned above in the second paragraph. 

A key aspect of choosing cats over dogs is that they are perceived as being more suitable for working owners who are away from the home for long periods. This is actually not necessarily true but the belief that it is true has fueled the increase in cat adoptions now that employees are returning to the office to work rather than working from home.

People are adopting animals in person from rescue centres in New York City at last

NEWS AND COMMENT - NEW YORK CITY: New Yorkers are pleased that they can, at last, visit an animal shelter in person, look at the animals, relate to the animals on a one-to-one basis and adopt when they fall in love with an individual. This, in a way, marks the beginning of the end of the coronavirus pandemic, we hope. It's a sign of getting back to normal. And they lined up for the pleasure. It is said that they turned up in droves on Saturday at Animal Care Centers of New York City. It was their first in-person adoption event for more than a year.

Cut cat in shelter waiting for an adopter. Photo in public domain.

In all 55 cats were adopted. It seems that the general consensus is that adopting online remotely is not anywhere near as good as being there in person. One customer, Vaneza Almodovar, 43, had tried to adopt online several times during the pandemic. She adopted a cat from the Animal Care Centers' East Harlem branch. She surprised her daughter when she brought the cat home. Her daughter said that she had never had a cat of her own while her mother said that "It's been worth waiting".

You had to get to the rescue centre early and lineup. Denise Cunningham and her granddaughter Ariah Williams got there 90 minutes early and were ninth in the queue of dozens that apparently extended down the block. They adopted a brown tabby called Raspberry. They chose him because he was shy. I like that because it is normally the confident cats who come forward and make themselves known and to get adopted. To go for a shy cat is a nice thing to do.

The shelter said that people were not surrendering their companion animals during the pandemic lockdown and neither were they adopting stray cats because they were not leaving their house. Pet adoptions had continued during the pandemic but some found the online application process a bit tricky. Almodovar said that they had put in an application and then told that their selected cat had "just got adopted out. We were so frustrated."

It's nice to read that things are getting back to normal in the world of cat adoptions and shelters.

Cats and dogs have been as important as human family members during the pandemic

A survey conducted online about the human-to-cat (and dog) relationship threw up the following information. The survey was conducted by the dog and cat well-being business Paws Group.

• 70% of dog and cat owners believe that their companion animal helped them with their mental health during lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic;
• 70% of children also benefited, according to their parents, from living with a dog or cat during the Covid-19 restrictions:
• 61% of owners used their companion animal for comfort during the pandemic;
• Of those cat and dog owners who are married or living with a partner, 67% said that their companion animal was just as important for their well-being as their human partner;
• 49% agreed that talking to their dog or cat is easier than talking to a human family member;
• 47% felt that their cat or dog might suffer from separation anxiety when the lockdowns end;
• 38% agreed that they would like to take their cat or dog to work in the future (I guess this has come about because they have had much more time with their companion animal working from home under the coronavirus restrictions).

Comment: for me, the results are expected and perhaps predictable. To other people they might not be, particularly the statistic about it being easier to talk to a cat or dog than a human partner. Or perhaps, on reflection, it isn't unexpected when you think about it!

Cats and dogs have been more important than human family members during the pandemic? Photo: Pixabay.

One of the perennial sayings from companion animal owners is that they love their companion animals unconditionally. It seems that they can pour more love into an animal than they can a person. And the love is reciprocated or that is they way feel. The love is purer, therefore, than perhaps a typical human-to-human relationship.

We also know of the very many search projects which confirm time and again that children benefit enormously from a relationship with an animal, particularly children with conditions such as ADHD and autism. You don't have to go far in your search on the Internet to find the truth in that statement.

The pandemic lockdowns have brought people nearer to their companion animals which is a good thing. However, the consequences of these lockdowns is not all good with respect to the health and welfare of these animals. There have been a lot of fresh adoptions by arguably unprepared new companion animal guardians who perhaps don't have quite the right mindset to take on the responsibility of looking after their animal for the life of the animal.

It almost seems that they wanted to adopt a cat or dog to see them through the pandemic and after that, when they go back to their offices, they intend to relinquish their pet either in an online sale or via a rescue centre. That paints a rather negative picture but there have been many reports from cat rescue organisations who have expressed this fear.