Rising costs is seeing more abandon animals- Norfolk dog training
The region's councils took in 3,300 of these animals between 2023 and last year- says Dogs Trust
A local dog trainer tells us the rise cost of essentials means that more people are abandoning their animals.
More stray dogs are ending up in care than being reunited with their owners- according to a national charity.
The region's councils took in 3,300 of these animals between 2023 and last year- says Dogs Trust.
"All of this just adds to the costs"
Damion Vincent is from Fetch dog walking and training, which is based near Norwich:
"This is putting a lot of strain on decision-makers across the country. This is not just the shelters themselves, but this is also local Government who have to find dog wardens, to go out and collect them.
"These animals might not be the friendliest in the world, so they might need to get a dog behaviourist in as well. All of this just adds to the costs".
More figures on this:
According to the Dogs Trust Stray Dog Survey, more than 36,000 dogs were handled by local authorities across the UK between April 2023 and March 2024.
While there has seen an overall decline in the number of stray dogs reported by local authorities since 1997, worryingly, over the last three years, the number of stray dogs handled by local authorities has started to rise again.
Stats from Dogs Trust’s Stray Dog Survey reveals that just 39% of dogs taken in by local authority dog wardens between April 1st 2023 and March 31st 2024 were reunited with their owners.
This is lower than in previous years - 43% dogs and owners were reunited in 2022 / 2023, and 54% in 2021 /2022, suggesting a worrying downward trend over the last few years.