West Bromwich shoppers talk about RSPCA stat which shows increase in pets being abandoned

Express & Star

People in West Bromwich have been sharing their thoughts on new data from the RSPCA which showed a rise of 51 per cent in the number pets being abandoned across the country in the winter months.

Transcript

00:00My name's Mary Heifield. I'm from Smedwick and I'm 78 years of age.

00:07I'm disgusted. I don't really know if people want an animal, how they can treat them

00:16the way they do and to abandon. And that poor little dog this week, I think it was disgusting.

00:23I think the reason may be money now because things are so expensive for a dog. They're not cheap.

00:35But if that is the case, I can't see why they have them in the first place because this has been in

00:45a decline since Covid. So therefore, why have a dog if you can't capture it? I would go out without

00:57food for my dog. I would. If they could find the person, they should be, they should do to them

01:10what they've done to this dog and maybe they would realise just how that dog has suffered.

01:21Being a dog lover, I can't say how they could treat an animal like that. I really can't.

01:32My name's Colin Iles. I'm from Albury and I'm 66 years of age. It's cost everything, I think,

01:38what it is. And the kids want him and once I've had him, I can't afford to look after him so

01:45they get rid of him. My nephew, he bought the dog and really, if it weren't for the insurance,

01:52it would cost him a fortune. So, I mean, tablets on their own, that cost a fortune.

01:58If it weren't for the insurance, I mean, like the dog had to have an operation

02:03last year, it cost thousands. So, just because he got a French Bulldog and something

02:11wrong with his nose and it cost him about two thousand to have done. If he hadn't got it

02:15insured, at one stage they weren't going to pay it out, but they paid it out in the end.

02:20I think a good punishment would be a fine. I don't think they can jail people, no. Not really.

02:27There's that many people in jail anyway, so they wouldn't jail him, I shouldn't think.

02:31I think they should for cruelty. My name is Mandy. I'm 53 years old and I'm from Streatley in

02:36Sutton Coldfield. I love animals. I am a responsible person. I work. I wouldn't have an animal purely

02:44because I'm out of work and I couldn't dream of ever adopting any kind of animal and just

02:50basically saying, oh no, that's it, throw it away. You've got an element of person that's being

02:54selfish, but they're getting an animal for their own purposes or for maybe children who, I want a

03:01dog, I want a cat, but at the end of the day, they're not thinking about the long-term aspect.

03:05You know, a cat couldn't live for 16 years, so basically that's 16 years of your life you need

03:09to devote to another child and if you don't see it that way, then you shouldn't be getting the

03:13animal in the first place. There needs to be a strict process in terms of, if you adopt a child,

03:20you have to go through lots of hoops to get to that stage, yet you can just have a child

03:25just like that. The same should be to an animal. You're having a dog, you're having a cat,

03:31you're going to have them for a long period of time. If you can't commit the time that you need

03:35to it, you shouldn't have them in the first place. But at the same time, you've got the financial

03:40implications. You've got, obviously, cats now have to be, you know, locatured. They didn't used to

03:46have to be. How many cats do you see that are dumped now because the owners won't pay the money

03:52for the vets fees to have them microchipped? And specifically cats are the prime example of that.

03:58But any animal now, it is a commitment and if you can't commit to that, number one, you've wasted

04:05your money in the first place, but number two, that animal is something you shouldn't look

04:10and is part of your family. My name is Margaret Price. I'm 69. I think it's awful. I have had

04:18pets myself. I used to have cats, didn't I? And I'll tell you, my cat was ruined.

04:26I used to buy a fish and everything, fresh fish, cola. I couldn't leave a pet out on the street

04:33or anywhere. I'd rather take it. If I couldn't manage, I'd rather take it to a rescue centre.

04:40There's people there to help and discuss things with, things through with them. There should be

04:46a punishment and I think what it should be, if they've just deserted them, yeah fine them,

04:53but if they've harmed that animal, they should be sent to court and have a higher charge.

05:02So in effect, treat every person that harms an animal in the same way as a person who harms a

05:08human. Yeah, that's how it should be. Yeah, yeah. What do you think about resolutions? So do you

05:12think there should be more services for people that are unable to look after their pets anymore?

05:17More than most likely, yeah, because there's not really many, I don't think. There's only like,

05:22there are, I mean there's the RSPCA and that, but a lot of them are overcrowded.

05:27Yeah. But as you say about that dog in the weekend, I've seen on the telly, it's disgusting.

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