More animals need rescuing in Bucks as adoption figures fall

New data has revealed that more animals in Bucks need to be rescued as the number of people willing to adopt animals has dropped in the county.

Figures released by the RSPCA show that the number of people adopting animals has fallen by 8%.

Meaning more animals in Bucks are being taken to shelters.

The national animal welfare charity has released the new figures to tie in with its yearly Adoptober campaign.

Adoptober, which was officially launched by the charity this morning (4 October), is a drive that promote and inspire residents to take up animal adoption.

The charity reports that it has a number of animals, just waiting to find their perfect match.

Also, the RSPCA fears that the cost of living crisis will lead to fewer people looking to own pets.

It is feared that the country may be heading towards a potential animal rescue crisis with more animals staying in rescue care for longer.

In 2021, the RSPCA’s network of centres and branches rehomed 26,945 animals; an 8% drop compared to the previous year when 29,358 animals were rehomed, despite the Covid pandemic affecting the way in which charities across the nation could rehome.

The number of dogs rehomed by the charity also fell 6% from 4,877 in 2020 to 4,567 in 2021; while cats dropped 12% from 17,868 in 2020 to 15,579 in 2021.

In Bucks, the total number of animals rehomed slipped 16% from 897 in 2020 to 751 in 2021. The number of dogs rehomed more than halved (a decrease of 52% from 115 to 55); and the number of cats fell 14% from 607 to 525; while rabbits dropped 20% from 88 to 70.

Other pets - which includes small furries like rodents, farm animals, and birds - are the only category to buck the trend, rising 16% from 87 rehomed in 2020 to 101 rehomed in 2021.

Across England and Wales, the average stay for an animal (the number of days they spend in RSPCA care from being ready to rehome to leaving for their new home) also increased for dogs by 9.4% - from 85 days in 2020 to 93 days in 2021 - and for rabbits - from 104 in 2020 to 117 in 2021, an increase of 12.5%. Cats length of stay remained the same at 67 days.

Pet welfare expert Dr Samantha Gaines said: “It’s really concerning to see that animals are staying in our care for longer and that less are being rehomed year-on-year. Unfortunately, we believe we’re really starting to see the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost of living crisis.

“Many of the animals - particularly dogs - who are coming into our care have behavioural challenges which could be linked to how they were bred as well as lockdown limiting the amount of training, socialising and outside world experience they had.

“We’re also beginning to see more animals coming into our care because their owners simply couldn’t afford to care for them any more; or, in the most extreme cases, having been neglected or abandoned due to the rising cost of pet care."