North Somerset animal shelter 'sad' to turn away unwanted pets

Beccy Hill said the number of dogs needing rehoming by the animal sanctuary has "never been this bad before"

An animal rehoming charity in North Somerset is having to turn pets away as it struggles to keep up with a high number of unwanted animals.

Holly Hedge Animal Sanctuary said nine in 10 callers wanted to give up pets, often due to the rising cost of living.

"It's never been this bad before," said Beccy Hill, who manages the Kennel and Cattery.

She added that turning animals away was "very sad and frustrating".

Speaking to Radio Bristol, Ms Hill said: "Immediately after the lockdowns, we did see an increase in people needing to rehome their animals, especially dogs, and we thought that we'd got over the worst of it.

"But it has increased even more than that. People get really frustrated and it results in them being quite abusive to our reception team." she added.

Common reasons for people wanting to give up their pets are the rising cost of living and the cost of veterinary treatment. Sometimes it may just be a change in the owner's circumstances.

• Rising bills see more owners give up their pets

Holly Hedge Animal Sanctuary rescues and rehomes around 800 dogs and cats each year

Holly Hedge Animal Sanctuary rescues and rehomes around 800 dogs and cats each year. The charity costs approximately £650,000 to run annually and relies solely on donations from the public.

At present the sanctuary is at full capacity. "We're having to use every single kennel and cattery pen and we have no space for emergencies at this moment in time," said Ms Hill.

'Basic life skills'

Volunteers help to train animals that arrive lacking social skills to enable them to have a better chance of being successfully rehomed.

"What we're finding is a lot of our dogs and cats are very unsocialised with people or other animals, and just haven't been exposed to situations," said Ms Hill.

"So we are having to do a lot of work with them to be able to get them ready and give them the basic life skills to be able to go into a home," she added.

The RSPCA said many of its rescue centres are nearly "full to bursting" and its facing its "biggest rehoming crisis in recent memory" as the number of animals being adopted is also decreasing.

Volunteers at the sanctuary train the animals in basic life skills to give them a better chance of being successfully rehomed

There are fears an increasing number of animals will end up on the streets.

In the first nine months of 2023 the charity has dealt with more than 16,000 reports of animals being abandoned, compared to 15,000 for the same period in 2022.

Another concern of animal welfare charities is reselling on social media sites.

"It isn't always the best route to go down," said Ms Hill, "because you don't know who you are giving (your pet) to. Or people take their animal to the vet to be euthanised, when they feel there is no other option."

Ms Hill said owners with pets requiring rehoming should still make contact for advice and support.