Nearly 50 animals left abandoned in Shropshire, RSPCA reveals
Almost 50 animals were abandoned in Shropshire last year, new figures from the RSPCA have revealed.
The 48 abandonments that were reported in the county – and 511 across the rest of the West Midlands – come as the charity warns it is entering the "problem" summer months where, on average, one animal is dumped every hour across the whole of the UK.
In 2015, 2,751 animals were rescued by the animal welfare charity with a peak in admissions in July.
Now the RSPCA is bracing itself for another summertime influx of dumped animals this year too.
It is thought that one contributing factor behind people dumping their animals in the summer months could be some owners heading off on holiday and not being able to find anyone to look after their pet while they are away.
Simon Osborne, a superintendent at the RSPCA, said: "People often think that Christmas is the time we see the most abandoned animals – but it is actually the summer.
"In the summer months the number of dumped animals we are called to rescue spikes in number – with one animal being collected by officers every hour on average.
"Every day our inspectors face cases where animals have been left abandoned in fields, dumped in boxes, left for dead at the side of roads and even left outside our animal centres and hospitals.
"It is just heartbreaking.
"These poor animals are often just dumped without a care for their welfare or what might happen to them.
"We will never know why these animals are just discarded like rubbish.
"It could be for any number of reasons," he added.
"Whether it is the fact that more pets are abandoned in the summer because the novelty of their Christmas present pet has worn off by the summer months, they don't want the responsibility of finding someone to look after their pet while they are away on holiday or whether more pets are found dumped because of the longer daylight hours we will never know.
"All we know is that there is a real peak in the number of abandonments in the summer months – July in particular – and it is animal welfare charities like us at the RSPCA that are left to pick up the pieces.
"There is a huge strain on our resources at this time of year because of this.
"Many abandoned animals that are rescued by the RSPCA inspectors are very badly neglected and are poorly so they need urgent vet care and will often also need hospital treatment to recover."
