More than 480 dogs are looking for forever homes in Fenland
While the UK is a very animal-loving nation, unfortunately, the current cost of living crisis has forced owners to rehome their beloved pets.
Here in Fenland there are currently 488 dogs looking for a new forever home according to data collated by Puppy Hero, an online site which offers advice to would-be owners on how to choose the right dog for them.
With an estimated 660,000 dogs being rehomed each year, the numbers are expected to rise, but rescue centres don’t have the capacity to cope with this increase.
As September is Responsible Dog Ownership Month, Puppy Hero decided to investigate the UK areas with the most dogs available for adoption. This was carried out by scraping RSPCA’s search tool to find rescue dogs determined by breed and age and then cross-referenced by location.
In Cambridgeshire Fenland was by far the local authority area with the most dogs looking for adoption with 488 - equating to 47.81 animals per person living in the district needing a home.
The figure was well over double that of neighbouring East Cambridgeshire which has 152 pets needing a home, equating to 16.86 per head of the population.
Huntingdonshire has 215 - which is just over 12 per inhabitant and in Cambridge the figure is just 40, that is 3.2 per person.
While in South Cambridgeshire there are 182 homeless dogs or 11.31 per person.
The breed most in need in Fenland is the Labrador retriever - 107 of the 488 dogs are this popular family pet. This breed is also the top one in South Cambridgeshire with 46 looking to be rehomed.
In East Cambridgeshire it is cocker spaniels that are most in need with 26 looking for a forever home while in Huntingdonshire it is the so-called designer dog, the cockapoo, with 33 needing to be adopted.
In Cambridge its the French bulldog with 12 of the total 40 dogs currently homeless being of this breed.
Labrador retrievers are the most common dogs in adoption centres across the top 10 and also the UK
The Labrador occupies 50% of the top 10 UK local authorities, and also the UK in general. There are a staggering 2,409 able to be rescued.
Amy Ockleford, a spokesperson for RSPCA said:"The RSPCA rescues and rehomes thousands of dogs across England and Wales every year. The dogs we're most likely to see in our centres are Staffordshire bull terriers, lurchers, Jack Russell terriers, German shepherds and crossbreeds.
"Sadly, we're seeing lots of animals coming into our care at the moment due to the rising cost of living, with owners having to make heartbreaking decisions to part with their pets as they struggle to pay household bills and feed their families. We're also seeing a lot of dogs come to us who have behavioural challenges due to being reared during the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, which has left many with severe separation anxiety and lacking vital socialisation skills.
"We'd urge anyone who thinks they can commit to a dog - both time-wise and financially - to please consider taking on a rescue dog. Our centres are full of dogs of all shapes, sizes, ages and breeds, all of who are patiently waiting to find their perfect match. See all of the dogs in our care on Find A Pet. To help the RSPCA rescue, rehabilitate and rehome more dogs in need during our busy summer months, please support our Cancel Out Cruelty campaign."
