Dog day care owner spends £12k on abandoned pets

Stanley - one of the abandoned dogs - eventually had to be put down

The owner of a dog day care centre said he was being "overwhelmed" by abandoned dogs and had spent more than £12,000 caring for the pets.

Alix Anson-Jones, who runs Seadogs Margate in Kent, said he had taken out a £10,000 bank loan to pay for an abandoned French Bulldog's treatment for a degenerative spinal problem.

The dog called Stanley later had to be put down due to its health issues.

"I love dogs and cannot say no," he said. "If we turf them out, we don’t know what will happen to them."

Alix Anson-Jones walks the dogs in Margate

Mr Anson-Jones said that since opening the dog day care centre in March, four dogs had been dumped at his business. Either owners book their pets in for appointments and never return or hand the dog over at the door.

He blamed a lack of knowledge for people taking on breeds they could not properly look after and the cost of living crisis, which was forcing people on low incomes to give up pets they could no longer afford.

The former bouncer said he felt obliged to care for the dogs as he claimed local rescue centres were full and police did not help.

Almost every week people in Thanet asked him to take on their pets, he said.

"It's a systematic problem," the 43-year-old continued, adding that one woman who had lost her home and was moving into temporary accommodation left her dog with him.

'Rehoming crisis'

Kent Police says it is not responsible for abandoned dogs and any cases should be reported to the local council or the RSPCA.

The RSPCA said it was facing a "rehoming crisis" as new figures show 42% more animals arrived at the charity (37,910) than were adopted in 2023 (27,277).

Their centres were "full-to-bursting," said Karen Colman, who leads the RSPCA rehoming team.

She issued a rallying cry to anyone in Kent considering adding a pet to their family to step in and give a rescue pet a second chance instead of buying from breeders.

"I wanted a peaceful dream job where I could look after dogs - not all this stress," Mr Anson-Jones added.

"Becoming a rescue centre was never something I set out to do."