Bristol and Bath animal shelters face surging costs

Puppies at the Bath Cats and Dogs Home

An animal shelter has said reducing its services is "not an option" as it faces spiralling running costs.

The Bristol Animal Rescue Centre has seen its energy bills jump by £17,000 this year.

It has also seen an increase in the number of animals with serious medical or behavioural issues.

But it has vowed to find the resources to keep accepting rescues, keep its heating on and continue with its veterinary outreach work.

Jodie Hayward, animal home manager, said: "We want to keep the animal welfare as high as we possibly can.

"We don't want to reduce the food we give the animals, we don't want to have to reduce the amount of staff we have to care for them."

Jodie Hayward said it was 'not an option' for the centre to refuse to help people

Ms Hayward said the surge in animals requiring urgent medical treatment was probably down to owners being unable to pay for a vet.

She said many of the behavioural issues staff were seeing were likely due to the pandemic when animals were unable to get proper socialisation.

The charity hopes to expand its outreach veterinary clinics so fewer people are forced to give up their pets.

"We don't want to reach the point where we say 'right, we are at capacity, we just can't help any more' because that's not an option for us," Ms Hayward said.

It is a similar picture at Bath Cats and Dogs Home, where energy bills are expected to rise to £200,000 a year once the energy price cap is lifted in April - an increase of almost 400%.

Chief executive Rachel Jones warned the energy bill would take a huge chunk out of the charity's £2m annual budget - but finding the money was "a challenge we will rise to".

Rachel Jones says more animals are arriving at Bath Cats and Dogs home in need of urgent medical care

The centre has also seen a sharp increase in the number of strays and animals arriving in need of urgent medical treatment.

Ms Jones said: "Our advice is if you are struggling, please do reach out to your local rescue centre or animal charity - we will do our best to help you.

"Absolutely we want animals to remain in their homes as often as possible.

"Do reach out. Don't let it get to that worst case scenario."