RSPCA at crisis point as pet surrenders rise

RSPCA animal shelters are overflowing as hundreds more pets are on surrender waitlists.

The cost-of-living and rental crisis is leaving many Australians with no choice but to give up their beloved pets.

[tb]

I hate it when I hear that a friend is getting a
Puppy or kitten of a particular breed or having an animal bred. Go to the shelter and ask for the one that has waited the longest. It will change your life.

[macca]

Lowering the cost for adopting a pet doesn’t help when lots of families cannot afford the ongoing cost of keeping a pet in the first place.

[JackSht-lvon]

Pup is not a pup anymore, happens every mid year.

[Millennialtomb]

The crisis here is that RSPCA don't think they're making enough profit.

[lancemollenhauer]

Don't give up on them, they won't give up on you.

[lindajk]

This breaks my heart. Personally, no matter how bad things are for me, I will never surrender or give up my pet! I'd rather go without. They have needs and feelings and are vulnerable. Pets are forever. Maybe people should think about it before getting them. They are not for novelty purposes.

[nicksun]

Pet insurance costs more than human insurance

[michaelbaker]

Give up the Netflix and other non productive items, do all you can to keep furry friends, i am struggling myself but would never give up my babies

[wyatthurts]

That word overused again crisis, need a thesaurus for a synonym catastrophe
calamity
cataclysm
emergency
disaster
predicament
plight
mess
dilemma
quandary
setback
reverse
reversal
upheaval
drama

[buildmotosykletist]

Many of the comments below show that people have lost sight of reality.

[Jason_g_kennedy]

Shit I'm on the DSP and a mortgage to pay. All my pets are healthy. It's peoples self entitlement causing this. Like Lockdown people were lonely so got pets. Now the pets are disposable because off me me me.

[allenjenkins]

There are many reasons for surrendering a loved pet. Finance is only one of them. There are far too many people commenting on this video who are just indulging in narcissistic virtue-signalling. My present dog was surrendered by his previous owner at 7yo because the man was terminally ill with cancer and no longer able to care for him properly. He took the option of surrendering him to a local shelter to be re-homed. I would do the same thing in similar circumstances, otherwise we are together until one of us dies. It is easy to tell from his behaviour and healthy condition that Angus has never been subjected to abuse or neglect.
By the way, I consider him as an adoption dog, not a rescue.
As for the RSPCA and the other big-city animal rescue organisations, they are just like Victorian state governments (either flavour). If you live east of Pakenham, they don't want to know you. During my search for another dog, many of them didn't even reply to my enquiries. I wasn't looking for a puppy for purely pragmatic reasons. If a pup lived as long as my last dog (16+), it could well outlive me and be left homeless.

[lukeh]

A friendly reminder of how low the human race can go.

[carolynhague]

Need to have pet food banks too...maybe rspcq could give free food for pets of low means familles as then the pet stays at home, and they're paying only food, not all other costs and thus leaving kennels for abused, stray animals

[ChrisPyle]

Dumb question. Wouldn’t it be cheaper to provide per assistance than to fund more shelters?

[rextucker]

Yes yes, take their pets take their pets. There's some love left in them purge it purge it, leave them only heartache. The human and the pet, now both alone.

[Luke-yhnm]

Oh really? But, they've always got the $$$ for beer, cigarettes & junk food.

[natemartinez]

Oh man, a lotta people gonna hafta realize most of these pets are gonna get dead. Great job

[lukei]

Pet food is really expensive. More expensive than the human one. A silly tiny pork bone can cost $5-7.
And then the annual jab is like $120-150. Crazy.
And if a snake bit your dog, it costs $2000+ to save a dog, using the same antivenom that is provided free to people. Vets are making fortunes.

[YolandaWbb]

Put the prises down ! So people can actually buy them !!!