Rescue centre forced to stop taking in dogs

Staff at High Hopes Dog Rescue said it was "heartbreaking" that their dogs kept being returned

A dog rescue centre in Worcestershire has stopped taking in new arrivals as people keep returning dogs to them.

High Hopes Dog Rescue, based in Kidderminster, takes in strays and abandoned dogs, mainly from abroad, in the hope they can finding loving families for them in the UK.

Founder Sam Watson said she believed all rescue centres were in the same boat because of the cost of living crisis.

Her rescue centre currently has about 60 dogs in its care and will not take any more in, until at least May, having decided to suspend any more rescues until the situation improves.

Speaking to BBC Hereford & Worcester, Ms Watson described the decision to stop taking dogs in as "really tough".

"Dogs are at risk, they are on the streets and we just cannot help them anymore," she said.

"It has got to a point where we just have to say no more."

Volunteer Libby Sinden described the situation as "heartbreaking".

She said: "A lot of the dogs are being returned at no fault of their own.

"They may have small issues like chewing and other puppy behaviours and people see that as a reason to return dogs."

The centre currently has about 60 dogs in its care

Jacks, a three-year-old basset hound cross, has been returned five times.

Ms Watson admitted he has had his "little issues" but it has been a consequence of being moved so often.

"He just needs to find his home where he has got that rock and does not move again."

Ms Sinden added: "The most heartbreaking part is that they do not understand why."

A spokesperson for The Dogs' Trust told the BBC that over the last year it had received enquiries from 45,000 people about giving up their dogs.

They also said the cost of owning a dog had risen about 9% this year, more than twice the rate of inflation.

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