Fewer pets given as Christmas presents across Bucks, Beds and Herts
People are being encouraged to "adopt not shop"
Less people across Beds, Bucks and Herts are expected to have given pets as presents this Christmas due to the rising cost of living.
A lot of animals are expected to be without a home during this festive period.
We spoke to Suzanne Norbury from the RSPCA who gives advice to people who planned to give a pet as a gift:
"Adopt not shop, charities like ourselves have many rescue animals that are desperate for that second chance so we would encourage people to join the rescue and adopt a rescue animal rather than buying a pet and giving it to someone whose not expecting it this Christmas"
An increase in pet neglect and abandonment is expected
The incidents of neglect being dealt with by teams has also risen, with 30,500 by the end of October 2022, compared to 27,521 over the same period in 2021.
The RSPCA’s most recent figures show that to October 2022, RSPCA rescuers dealt with 13,159 incidents of abandonment. This has risen from 10,519 for the same time period the previous year.
The charity has also revealed that there were 186 calls to the emergency helpline about abandonment and neglect in Bedfordshire last winter.
The charity has also revealed that there were 333 calls to the emergency helpline about abandonment and neglect in Hertfordshire last winter.
"Be ready to welcome a pet into your life"
"We would always encourage people to be ready to welcome a pet into their life. Whether it’s Christmas or any other time of year to make sure that they’ve really planned to welcome that animal into their home. We’d really encourage people to not give a pet on impulse."