Homes For Pups campaign: RSPCA Lancashire East on the cost of living

Burnley Express

We meet Sue Abraham and Amy Robinson at the RSPCA Lancashire East's animal centre in Huncoat to discuss the national dog rehoming crisis. They speak about the impact of the cost of living on pet owners.

Transcript

00:00Today we're at the RSPCA Lancashire East branch to speak to Amy and Sue about how the rescue is

00:08being impacted by the rehoming crisis. We're also here to meet Scooby and Butter's two adorable dogs

00:18who are looking for a permanent place to call home. The amount of dogs that are abandoned

00:26we find that from the inspectorate point of view they come to the inspector and then come through

00:30to the centre. So we have a waiting list of animals that want to come in and we're only

00:34licensed for 14 dogs and we're constantly full, we're always full to capacity. So with our dogs

00:41we're not getting as many applications for the dogs that we've got at the moment. It's certainly

00:45slowed down on adoptions which means that we can't take any more animals into the centre.

00:50Why do you think there are so many dogs being abandoned?

00:53I think the cost of living is something that's affected a lot of people. There are a lot of

00:56people that have to give up their animals, not necessarily voluntarily but it's just a crisis

01:01that people can't afford them and it's the first thing that people will have to give up.

01:05Which means that we end up with more people waiting for their animals to come into the centre

01:10and when we're full capacity we can't necessarily take them in straight away. We have a waiting list

01:14system so as soon as we have a kennel available we will contact them and ask them to bring them in

01:18but in some cases that means it's just too long for people to wait which means that they're

01:22abandoned. What sort of situations are the dogs that have been abandoned? What sort of

01:28situations have they faced? Neglect. They're not going to see the vet so they're not having any

01:35medical treatment. If they've got skin problems it can cause fur loss, obviously starvation if

01:42people can't afford to feed the dogs, feeding the wrong diets that can affect them as well.

01:46So you then start off with an animal that's got medical issues so they then come into the centre

01:52the medical issues have to be dealt with before we can put them up for rehoming which again slows

01:56down the space in the kennel being available. When it comes to rehoming what's important for

02:01the branch to consider? People that want to adopt a dog they may come forward for a particular type

02:07of dog. They see a dog that's on our website and they think that's perfect for them but they may

02:12come forward and they're not necessarily the right person for that dog. That's not saying that they're

02:16not the right person for a dog but not for that particular one and if we think there is one that

02:20is more suitable we will pull them in that direction. What might be the impact on a dog if

02:25you rehome it in a place that's not suitable for it? It ends up coming back to the centre which then

02:32causes more psychological problems for the dog. It's been in a home it thinks that everything's

02:36okay and then it has to come back to the centre and we have to start again and it can have twice

02:40the problems it had in the first place because it's not been rehomed properly. So we are, although it

02:45seems that we are strict we do know our dogs and we want to make sure that they go to the right

02:49people the first time and live a long and happy life with them. When did Butters come into the

02:54branch and what is her backstory? Butters came in in November 2023. She came after she was a hunting

03:02dog so that's the reason that she came into the centre. We don't really know much about her

03:06background we just know that she was a hunting dog so she is very very high energy. She has got a very

03:12high prey drive so we do have to work with her to bring your energy levels down because sometimes

03:16you can get a little bit too overexcited and obviously we're working with her muzzle training

03:20as well because she is going to have to be muzzled when she's out and about just in case.

03:23Can you tell me about Butters personality? She's a very very bubbly dog, she loves life, she loves

03:30people, she loves other dogs, she loves attention and she loves a fuss. She'll just roll over at

03:37any chance that she's given if somebody gives her a fuss. She's amazing with other dogs and she

03:42thrives in the company and she is really really playful but she is also really really high energy

03:48but she does enjoy her downtime with her little best friend Dennis as well. What would be the

03:53perfect home for Butters? Butters perfect home would be somebody who enjoys going on lots of

03:58adventures, lots of walking, she would be more than happy to live with another dog,

04:03no young children just because of how excited and bouncy she can be but yeah a home that

04:10wants to go on lots of adventures and lots of nice long walks would be perfect for her.

04:14What is the best thing about Butters? What is the best thing about Butters? Everything is amazing

04:20about Butters, she just loves life so much, she just wants to get stuck into everything

04:26and she loves going on her walks, that's like what she literally lives for. A lot of people are put

04:31off by lurches thinking they're not necessarily cuddly or they don't have the same sort of

04:36personality that a small fluffy dog would but giving the lurches a chance is really important,

04:42they can just be as affectionate as any other dog and more often than not they are more affectionate

04:48because they just love being with people so much and in Butters case she loves people more than

04:54anything else in the world. When did Scooby come into the brand and what is his story? Scooby came

05:02in in July 2023, he came in after his owner could no longer look after him, he was with us for

05:12approximately four weeks and he got very very stressed in kennels to the point where he did

05:16break his tail and he did have an arterial bleed so it did have to be amputated. He then came to

05:24me as a foster dog so his tail could heal because it wasn't healing in kennels because he was still

05:28throwing himself around and I've had him since August 2023. What is Scooby like, what's his

05:36personality like? Scooby's a very very high energy lurcher, he is a little bit anxious but his

05:42anxiety comes across as this hyper excitability but he is absolutely lovely, he is so affectionate,

05:49he's so ready to sort of go out into the world and just explore. He does still require a little

05:57bit of training so somebody who's willing to give that training to him would be great

06:02but he's so affectionate and he just loves life. What is your favourite thing about Scooby?

06:09How cuddly he is so when we're at home after he's been out for his walks he really settles down

06:14and he'll come and have a little snuggle next to me on the sofa. What would be the perfect home

06:20for Scooby? Scooby's perfect home would be adult only just because of how excited and bouncy he can

06:27be. Somebody who's going to be very patient with him because he still does have quite a few things

06:31to learn but he is very willing to learn and he does enjoy his training sessions.

06:39He would do best in a home that does already have another dog because he needs to sort of learn the

06:44ropes a little bit, somebody to give him the confidence and he can be a little bit reactive,

06:52excited reactive when he does see another dog out and about but if he's got a little

06:55friend with him it's reduced massively.

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