Covid: Dogs bought in lockdown being abandoned.
More than 3.2 million pets were bought during lockdown
Many Centres were closed during lockdown, but rescues were still taking place. Many families were buying puppies, kittens and chickens off the internet, for children to play with. Now because many people are going back to work so many dogs are being dumped. Hope Rescue, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, said the number of dogs being dropped off at its rescue centre in Pontyclun was the highest in its 15-year history.
One-year-old Maggie, an old English sheepdog crossed with a golden retriever, was taken in as a stray, but the next day staff saw a recent advert on Gumtree asking for £500 for her.
Sara Rosser, head of welfare at Hope Rescue Centre, said: “We have to take stray dogs and so fake strays are jumping the queue ahead of dogs that really are abandoned.
“It is definitely unprecedented numbers at the moment.”
At the moment what we’re hearing from all the rescue centres that we work with is that they are also full and that they are under massive pressure.
