She is a tortoiseshell and can live with another cat. Available at Birmingham Animal Centre (Credit: RSPCA) She is a tortoiseshell and can live with another cat. Available at Birmingham Animal Centre (Credit: RSPCA)
She is a tortoiseshell and can live with another cat. Available at Birmingham Animal Centre (Credit: RSPCA)

10 photos of the abandoned pets needing forever homes in Birmingham

This is how the cost of living crisis has become the most urgent threat to pet welfare in the UK, according to a charity

The West Midlands has the third highest amount of abandoned pets in the country with 2,158 cases reported to the RSPCA in 2021.

There’s been a 19% increase in 2022 as 1,076 animals were reported abandoned to RSPCA in West Midlands from January - July 2022.

The RSPCA Worcester and Mid Worcestershire branch’s rescue and rehoming centre in Kempsey took in 12 abandoned animals - nine cats and three rabbits - on one day alone on 17 August. They included four tiny kittens, estimated to be between four and five weeks old, who had been found in a soiled cardboard box on the doorstep of a house in Small Heath, Birmingham, the previous day.

The number is also rising nationally with a 17% increase from 2020 to 2021 and a 24% increase in 2022. RSPCA worries that while pet ownership increased during the pandemic the cost of living crisis is putting a strain on people’s finances and more animals are being given up this year.

The animal welfare charity has released the stark figures as part of its Cancel Out Cruelty summer campaign which aims to raise funds to keep its rescue teams on the frontline saving animals in desperate need of help and raise awareness about stopping cruelty for good.

Dermot Murphy, Chief Inspectorate Officer at the RSPCA, said: “The idea of putting your cat in a cat carrier and taking them to a secluded spot in the woods before walking away, or chucking your dog out of the car and driving off leaving them desperately running behind the vehicle, is absolutely unthinkable and heartbreaking to most pet owners - but sadly we are seeing animals callously abandoned like this every single day.

“We understand that sometimes the unexpected can happen - the pandemic and cost of living crisis proved that - but there is never an excuse to abandon an animal. There are always other options for anyone who has fallen on hard times and can no longer afford to keep their pet.”

How is the cost of living crisis affecting pets?

It has become the most urgent threat to pet welfare in the UK, according to the charity. The Animal Kindness Index showed that 78% of pet owners think the cost of living will impact their animals, almost seven out of 10 (68%) expressing concern that the cost of care was increasing, and a fifth (19%) worried about how they’ll afford to feed their pets. The study also showed cat owners seem to be most impacted and concerned about cost of living pressures.

You can give a home to some of these rescued pets in Birmingham. Here are 10 photos of pets up for adoption at the Birmingham Animal Centre.

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