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Homes For Pups campaign: RSPCA Lancashire East on the cost of living
Burnley Express
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09/12/2024
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.
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00:00
Today we're at the RSPCA Lancashire East branch to speak to Amy and Sue about how the rescue is
00:08
being impacted by the rehoming crisis. We're also here to meet Scooby and Butter's two adorable dogs
00:18
who are looking for a permanent place to call home. The amount of dogs that are abandoned
00:26
we find that from the inspectorate point of view they come to the inspector and then come through
00:30
to the centre. So we have a waiting list of animals that want to come in and we're only
00:34
licensed for 14 dogs and we're constantly full, we're always full to capacity. So with our dogs
00:41
we're not getting as many applications for the dogs that we've got at the moment. It's certainly
00:45
slowed down on adoptions which means that we can't take any more animals into the centre.
00:50
Why do you think there are so many dogs being abandoned?
00:53
I think the cost of living is something that's affected a lot of people. There are a lot of
00:56
people that have to give up their animals, not necessarily voluntarily but it's just a crisis
01:01
that people can't afford them and it's the first thing that people will have to give up.
01:05
Which means that we end up with more people waiting for their animals to come into the centre
01:10
and when we're full capacity we can't necessarily take them in straight away. We have a waiting list
01:14
system so as soon as we have a kennel available we will contact them and ask them to bring them in
01:18
but in some cases that means it's just too long for people to wait which means that they're
01:22
abandoned. What sort of situations are the dogs that have been abandoned? What sort of
01:28
situations have they faced? Neglect. They're not going to see the vet so they're not having any
01:35
medical treatment. If they've got skin problems it can cause fur loss, obviously starvation if
01:42
people can't afford to feed the dogs, feeding the wrong diets that can affect them as well.
01:46
So you then start off with an animal that's got medical issues so they then come into the centre
01:52
the medical issues have to be dealt with before we can put them up for rehoming which again slows
01:56
down the space in the kennel being available. When it comes to rehoming what's important for
02:01
the branch to consider? People that want to adopt a dog they may come forward for a particular type
02:07
of dog. They see a dog that's on our website and they think that's perfect for them but they may
02:12
come forward and they're not necessarily the right person for that dog. That's not saying that they're
02:16
not the right person for a dog but not for that particular one and if we think there is one that
02:20
is more suitable we will pull them in that direction. What might be the impact on a dog if
02:25
you rehome it in a place that's not suitable for it? It ends up coming back to the centre which then
02:32
causes more psychological problems for the dog. It's been in a home it thinks that everything's
02:36
okay and then it has to come back to the centre and we have to start again and it can have twice
02:40
the problems it had in the first place because it's not been rehomed properly. So we are, although it
02:45
seems that we are strict we do know our dogs and we want to make sure that they go to the right
02:49
people the first time and live a long and happy life with them. When did Butters come into the
02:54
branch and what is her backstory? Butters came in in November 2023. She came after she was a hunting
03:02
dog so that's the reason that she came into the centre. We don't really know much about her
03:06
background we just know that she was a hunting dog so she is very very high energy. She has got a very
03:12
high prey drive so we do have to work with her to bring your energy levels down because sometimes
03:16
you can get a little bit too overexcited and obviously we're working with her muzzle training
03:20
as well because she is going to have to be muzzled when she's out and about just in case.
03:23
Can you tell me about Butters personality? She's a very very bubbly dog, she loves life, she loves
03:30
people, she loves other dogs, she loves attention and she loves a fuss. She'll just roll over at
03:37
any chance that she's given if somebody gives her a fuss. She's amazing with other dogs and she
03:42
thrives in the company and she is really really playful but she is also really really high energy
03:48
but she does enjoy her downtime with her little best friend Dennis as well. What would be the
03:53
perfect home for Butters? Butters perfect home would be somebody who enjoys going on lots of
03:58
adventures, lots of walking, she would be more than happy to live with another dog,
04:03
no young children just because of how excited and bouncy she can be but yeah a home that
04:10
wants to go on lots of adventures and lots of nice long walks would be perfect for her.
04:14
What is the best thing about Butters? What is the best thing about Butters? Everything is amazing
04:20
about Butters, she just loves life so much, she just wants to get stuck into everything
04:26
and she loves going on her walks, that's like what she literally lives for. A lot of people are put
04:31
off by lurches thinking they're not necessarily cuddly or they don't have the same sort of
04:36
personality that a small fluffy dog would but giving the lurches a chance is really important,
04:42
they can just be as affectionate as any other dog and more often than not they are more affectionate
04:48
because they just love being with people so much and in Butters case she loves people more than
04:54
anything else in the world. When did Scooby come into the brand and what is his story? Scooby came
05:02
in in July 2023, he came in after his owner could no longer look after him, he was with us for
05:12
approximately four weeks and he got very very stressed in kennels to the point where he did
05:16
break his tail and he did have an arterial bleed so it did have to be amputated. He then came to
05:24
me as a foster dog so his tail could heal because it wasn't healing in kennels because he was still
05:28
throwing himself around and I've had him since August 2023. What is Scooby like, what's his
05:36
personality like? Scooby's a very very high energy lurcher, he is a little bit anxious but his
05:42
anxiety comes across as this hyper excitability but he is absolutely lovely, he is so affectionate,
05:49
he's so ready to sort of go out into the world and just explore. He does still require a little
05:57
bit of training so somebody who's willing to give that training to him would be great
06:02
but he's so affectionate and he just loves life. What is your favourite thing about Scooby?
06:09
How cuddly he is so when we're at home after he's been out for his walks he really settles down
06:14
and he'll come and have a little snuggle next to me on the sofa. What would be the perfect home
06:20
for Scooby? Scooby's perfect home would be adult only just because of how excited and bouncy he can
06:27
be. Somebody who's going to be very patient with him because he still does have quite a few things
06:31
to learn but he is very willing to learn and he does enjoy his training sessions.
06:39
He would do best in a home that does already have another dog because he needs to sort of learn the
06:44
ropes a little bit, somebody to give him the confidence and he can be a little bit reactive,
06:52
excited reactive when he does see another dog out and about but if he's got a little
06:55
friend with him it's reduced massively.
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