Pets ‘feel debt troubles’

Homeowners are having to give up their pets due to increasing living costs, it has been suggested.

Animal rescue centres across the UK are being inundated with dogs, cats, rabbits and other household pets as people try to come to terms with increasing mortgage costs, fuel costs and food bills.

According to the Mirror, many people are now turning to a second job or are working overtime in a bid to make up for a shortfall in their disposable incomes since the start of the credit crisis.

Marge Albert, a worker at Frehfields Animal Rescue in Liverpool, told the Mirror as people figure out debt management options, more pet owners are getting rid of animals.

“It can be expensive to look after a pet properly,” she said. “We have seen a rise in people handing in their pets as a result of the credit crunch.”

Vanessa Eden, who works for the RSPCA in Fareham, echoed these views in the Telegraph.

She explained that people are struggling to pay for energy and other bills, “let alone vet bills or pet food”.

“When faced with a rising cost of living, pets seem like an easy way to cut back.”