Animal abandonment on the rise in Kent
The RSPCA says local incidents have risen by up to 5.8% in the first 10 months of the year
Reports of animals being abandoned in Kent are on the rise, according to the RSPCA.
They say local incidents raised were up by 5.8% in the first 10 months of the year.
The charity say rescuers are bracing themselves for a further surge in reports over Winter months, launching an urgent appeal, 'The Big Give Back to Animals', in the hopes to raise money for frontline officers.
RSPCA superintendent Simon Osborne said: “It’s been an incredibly challenging year for many pets, and we have seen a dramatic and heartbreaking rise in abandonments this year.
“And with Winter upon us, with plummeting temperatures and dark nights, we fear things could get even harder in the months to come.
“Sadly, animal abandonment has become so problematic and so tragically widespread, that we've seen more incidents every month this year when compared to 2024; and reports have been rising year after year.
“There’s an epidemic of animal abandonment and neglect, meaning our officers are needed now more than ever to respond to those animals in the most urgent need of help.”
Up to the end of October, 602 incidents about an animal being abandoned or dumped in Kent had been raised with the charity's emergency line.
That's up from 569 incidents reported at the same time last year.
In April, two young black kittens - one of whom was pregnant - were found abandoned inside a plastic box at Canterbury.
The two females, who were around five months old when they were rescued, were found by a member of the public who took them to RSPCA Canterbury and District Branch, whose staff have named them April and Sgt. Major.
RSPCA Inspector Kirsten Ormerod, who investigated the incident, said: “This must have been very stressful for these poor kittens to be abandoned in this way.
"On the day they were found temperatures were warm, so being confined in a plastic box with no water these cats would have been very hot and stressed.
“We are grateful to the member of the public who found them and took them to a place of safety.”
Across England and Wales, 24,270 abandonment incidents have been reported so far this year - a rise of almost 23% compared to 19,727 last year.
That means, in the first 10 months of the year, an abandonment incident was reported to the RSPCA's emergency line every nine minutes it was open.