Britain's cost of living: Pets in crisis

National World - Broadcast Video

Reporter Lucinda Herbert takes a look at the struggles being experienced by pet owners as the cost of living crisis squeezes household budgets.

Transcript

00:00 As a dog owner I've noticed the cost of food and treats creeping up over the last year

00:13 but it seems for some pet care is a luxury they no longer can afford. More dogs and cats

00:19 are ending up in kennels because people cannot manage the cost of looking after their furry

00:23 friends. Parents are having to prioritise feeding their children over feeding their

00:30 pets. Vet fees have tripled according to some pet owners who say they are having to do without

00:35 flea treatments let alone if anything more serious happens. The stories I heard just

00:41 from fellow dog walkers were so upsetting I had to go and investigate. I visited three

00:46 animal charities here on the Fowl Coast, a cat rescue, a dog shelter and a group that

00:52 reunites lost pets with their owners. It soon became clear that these charities are at absolute

00:58 breaking point. Homeless Hounds have three rescue centres here in Lancashire and all

01:05 of them are full. Jill Maxwell-Karr, a volunteer at Briarcliff Kennels told me they are so

01:11 stretched that they have had to stop taking in dogs from the public. They seem to be coming

01:16 in every single day. So all around the country every single kennel is full. So we are trying

01:24 to find fosters and adoptees to take care of the dogs because there are so many dogs

01:31 that need a new home. There are a lot more dogs being given up because obviously the

01:37 food bills keep going up. People can't afford the vet bills so a lot of dogs who have ill

01:46 health go untreated. So everything is going up all the time. Cost of living, you can see

01:52 the difference in how many dogs are coming in because of the cost of living. When people

02:04 lose the homes, so if they have to go into rent accommodation and can't take the dogs,

02:11 the owner gets really upset because obviously they want to keep the dog. And it's awful

02:16 to see that. I went along to a weekly walking group here in Blackport. Wolves for Wellbeing

02:22 is an informal therapy group for dog owners with mental and physical health issues. All

02:27 the people I spoke to said their dogs are essential to their wellbeing and recovery

02:32 but the cost of caring for their furry friends is making life very hard. One lady who asked

02:37 to remain anonymous told me she had to switch to a cheaper brand of dog food when her old

02:42 one increased by £5 a bag. He then had to go on a special diet of plain chicken and

02:48 vegetables when he developed a health condition. But as the cost of food went up, she had to

02:53 start making smaller portions for herself so her dog could get what he needs. A 57 year

02:58 old man told me he regularly has to dip into his pension just to pay for day to day living

03:04 costs for him and his dog. The cost of living crisis has inspired some kind hearted animal

03:09 lovers to set up dedicated pet food banks. Happy Pets Food Bank recently set up on the

03:16 Fylde Coast. Jennifer Endres hopes it will prevent some families having to give up their

03:22 beloved pets due to money worries. We've had some people come in having to miss meals

03:27 themselves so that they can feed their animals. Nobody should be having to do that in this

03:32 day and age. It's ridiculous that people are actually having to starve themselves to

03:36 feed their animals. If we can give their animals food, that gives an extra meal to these people.

03:42 We have a background in cat rescue and we have seen such a large amount of people having

03:46 to give up their pets due to financial reasons. The cost of living crisis is affecting absolutely

03:51 everyone and sometimes people just have a bad week, sometimes it's a bad month. We're

03:57 here to help everyone. You'll see people crying, absolutely heartbroken because they

04:02 don't feel they can offer the pet what they need. And like I said, if all it takes is

04:08 a few weeks of pet food just to alleviate the burden of the cost of it, then that can

04:15 only be a good thing. If people need the help, how should they get in touch with you? Just

04:20 turn up. There is no referrals needed, no conditions, because you don't know when you're

04:25 going to have a hard week. Sometimes an unexpected bill means you're suddenly short. So rather

04:30 than have to jump through hoops and get referrals and things, we say just turn up. We don't

04:35 judge, we don't ask loads of questions, we just say, "What do you need?" We're only a

04:43 small charity, there's only us two. We don't have a lot of money, we're in debt to the

04:53 vets all the time. The cost of living is affecting people, how much they donate, how much they

05:01 bring to the shop. It just has a knock-on effect for everything and so it's got to come

05:06 out of somewhere, so it comes out of our pockets. We love what we do, but we just think, "Oh

05:12 my God, how are we going to do it?"

05:19 It's Marjorie, little Marjorie.

05:22 Her name's Marjorie.

05:24 So where has she come from?

05:26 She's come from a farm.

05:30 How did they end up on the farm?

05:32 I think some of them were dumped there, we're told. He just says they just turn up, they

05:41 just rock up one day and they're there. The only way they can get there is somebody driving

05:48 and leaving them there. It's not just there, I don't think it happens a lot in other places

05:53 as well. Again, it comes down to people thinking, "Well, it's a cat, it'll just find mice and

05:58 birds and it'll eat." No, that's not what happens. They're domesticated animals, they're

06:06 not wild animals. They need care, just like any other pet. They need fleeing, they need

06:13 worming. If they're going to be outside like that, they need vaccinating. They need proper

06:21 treatment. You can't just let a cat out and off it goes. Even the feral ones, they get

06:27 into fights, they get wounded.

06:32 I'll talk with the girls.

06:34 I mean, she's like Tiddles, but a coloured version of Tiddles.

06:39 If you're earning any benefits, there is the PDSA and they're helpful if you've fallen

06:47 into that bracket. And there's the food banks, they get cat food in as well. So yeah, it's

06:56 just a matter of doing a bit of research and finding out what's available in your area,

07:00 I think. But my advice to anybody is just to make sure that before you even get an animal

07:07 that you can afford to have one. That's the most important. Think about it. She could

07:13 live to be 20 years old. It's a long-term commitment. It isn't just about getting a

07:19 fluffy kitten like this. You've got to think long-term and think about all the... If you're

07:28 going on holiday, you're going to have to put it in a cattery. That means you're going

07:31 to have to get it vaccinated. You've got to think about all these things.

07:36 Their pet is their life. So it would be like giving up a child. They rely on them for emotional

07:44 support, friendship, someone to turn to, to talk to. It is their whole life. So to even

07:51 contemplate giving them up is really extreme and really upsetting.

07:58 Pet charity Blue Cross is seeing growing demand for pet food banks due to the rising cost

08:03 of living. Data firm Kantar estimate that dog and cat food prices have risen by 10%.

08:10 Unfortunately, the need is growing and there's more and more people struggling to feed their

08:16 pets to keep them. So Blue Cross are trying to find a way to help keep the pets with the

08:22 families. People that have used us last year and managed to get on their own two feet have

08:31 now had to come back to us because all the costs have increased. We're always happy to

08:37 welcome people back, welcome new people in, just to help them pets stay as part of that

08:42 family. The charity says that financial pressures are so severe that many are being faced with

08:48 the dilemma of either feeding themselves or their pets, while others have been forced

08:52 to make the heart-breaking decision to give up their pets altogether.

08:56 That is happening every day. We get people saying that they're choosing to buy pet food

09:02 over human food, so they're either going with very little or going without just to feed

09:08 their pet because they desperately don't want to give them up for adoption. The main species

09:12 that we cater for are cats and dogs, so both wet and dry food, so dry complete food, all

09:21 new sealed packages, tins, pouches, dog and cat meat, so mainly cats and dogs.

09:30 The Ferry Branch is part of a wider UK network with other pet food banks available in Sheffield

09:35 and Grimsby. We noticed towards the latter half of 2020, as people coming out of the

09:42 main lockdown that we had, a lot of the animals that were being put forward for rehoming,

09:48 it was down to financial constraints. We thought, would it be a good idea to maybe trial a food

09:53 bank? It was quite difficult to get going at the start because of lockdown procedures,

09:58 things like that, so we did a lot of delivering. We'd take food out to owners and things like

10:02 that. We started to get a few regulars that were using us quite a lot. And then when we

10:07 opened to the public in general, which I think was around April last year, when we opened,

10:11 knock on the door, we're here, it went through the roof.

10:15 Cantar has recorded dog and cat food prices experiencing a 10% increase in price. Now

10:21 pet food banks aim to help owners as they endure a record squeeze on household finances.

10:26 Blue Cross hopes their network of pet food banks will help alleviate some of the strain,

10:31 but they can't do it without kind donations from the public.

10:34 We rely on donations from other Blue Cross centres and then we get a lot of donations

10:39 from the great support we get around Sheffield. And so far, we've not had to turn anybody

10:44 away or made anybody wait. We've managed to provide every time. But initially, it came

10:49 from those inquiries, we started to notice a pattern that there was changes of circumstances

10:53 and a lot of financial issues were coming in.

10:56 In terms of expanding it, we are looking at how we expand it. We're looking at whether

11:00 we try and do it at other of our existing sites, whether we look to work with partners,

11:05 to be in other areas where perhaps we don't have a centre or something of that nature.

11:10 So yeah, we are looking at how we expand this. And I think other organisations are also very

11:15 much, other organisations are also working in this space.

11:19 If you've been affected by any of the issues in this video, you can contact the Happy Pets

11:24 Food Bank on Facebook using the hashtag #HappyPetsFoodBank.

11:28 The Blue Cross also support pet food banks just like this one all across the UK.

11:34 Their website also contains lots of advice on where you can turn for help for your pets

11:39 during the cost of living crisis.

11:41 [Music playing]

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