The spiraling cost of living is seeing an unprecedented number of people surrendering dogs they can no longer afford to maintain.
Staff at Castlemaine’s Mount Alexander Animal Welfare shelter say seeing owners in tears as they surrender the family dog to the shelter because they can no longer cover basic expenses, is becoming an increasingly common sight.
“It’s bad. People are having to choose between buying food for themselves or feeding their pets,” shelter manager Rosey Skinner told the Mail this week.
She says the shelter began noticing an increased number of people surrendering dogs at the start of July, and that since then the trend has only continued.
“In Castlemaine the shelter has never experienced anything like this,” Rosey says.
The shelter manger says the trend appears widespread with animal shelters and re-homing services reporting a similar story state-wide and beyond.
It’s also being amplified by people who adopted pets during the pandemic lockdowns of ’20 and ’21 now giving them up.
“At the moment we have 15 dogs (including pups) and we’re seeing pretty much 10 to 15 dogs at any one time where normally it’s one to five” she says.
“We’re in the midst of it and we’re trying to help people come up with solutions.”
Rosey says that those who are in a position to help can do so by adopting a surrendered animal, or by simply donating pet food or finances to the shelter.
“We’re also introducing an individual pet sponsorship program which I’d expect to be operating by the end of September and people can check that out through our website.”
The impacts of the rising cost of living in real terms is reflected also in the experiences of the local branch of the Salvation Army.
“We’re starting to see people who previously wouldn’t have asked for help,” Castlemaine Salvo’s captain, Annita Allman says.
“We had one lady recently who sought assistance because she couldn’t afford her dog registration fees.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever had anyone ask for pet registration assistance.
“And we’ve also had people asking for pet food as well with food parcels. We’re actually getting specific requests.
“Donations of dog and cat food are the essential ones which would be really helpful.
“We’re also seeing lots of people just walking in and we’d really appreciate people making appointments first. It really helps us to manage our day.”