Mendip and Morris are some of the kittens needing a home at the Felixstowe Blue Cross.

Felixstowe: Too easy for people to get rid of unwanted pets, says Blue Cross

BY RICHARD CORNWELL, Felixstowe editor Friday, October 19, 2012
12:00 PM

PETS are becoming a product of today’s throwaway society – leading to an epidemic of kittens and puppies.

Make neutering the norm

■ Blue Cross research in East Anglia found 38pc of pet owners had not had their animals neutered because they didn’t feel it was necessary.

■ Some 13pc of cat owners and 12pc of dog owners in the region said pets in their household had been caught out by an unexpected litter.

■ The charity has neutered 10,000 dogs and cats since January 2011.

■ Double the number of “handbag dogs” have been left at the charity’s centres in 2012 compared to four years ago.

Officials at Felixstowe’s Blue Cross animal rescue centre say the breeding market is saturated and it’s too easy for people to get rid of animals they no longer want or feel are fashionable, such as the tiny pampered pooches known as “handbag dogs”.

The Walton High Street centre currently has been overwhelmed by record numbers of dumped animals and currently has 15 kittens needing homes and more than 80 pets on its waiting lists.

To try to combat the shocking increase in the amount of unwanted litters the charity is urging government to take action to stop irresponsible breeding and launching a Big Neutering Campaign to try to stem the problem.

Centre manager Andrew Gillon said: “We’re seeing pets increasingly being treated like disposable items.

“The problem is that supply is greater than demand and we currently have a full centre with over 80 pets on our waiting list.

“While charities like Blue Cross will always be there to give needy pets a healthy, happy future we must reverse this trend so unwanted litters are not disposed of like rubbish and neutering your pet becomes the norm.”

Unwanted kittens, puppies and pregnant pets had reached epidemic levels with the number of pets born at Blue Cross centres after their pregnant mothers were abandoned or given up having nearly doubled compared with four years ago, plus a 70pc increase in kittens in the last year.

One cat called Hope was dumped in a cat carrier in the car park overnight during a storm. She was soaked through and heavily pregnant. She gave birth to four kittens two days later.

Blue Cross chief executive Kim Hamilton said: “Owners can do their bit by supporting our neutering campaign but we need government action to discourage irresponsible breeders who make it easy to get a pet on impulse, and just as easy to discard.

“We are calling on decision makers to change laws so that everyone who owns more than one dog capable of breeding should be identified as a breeder and visible to authorities.

“Blue Cross believes that this would discourage casual breeders who are producing pups in an already saturated market.”

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6 comments

Could not agree more with "happypam", blue cross wouldnt let me have a puppy as i was not at home all day so i went elsewhere and paid a lot of money for a puppy 2yrs ago..... its not what time they are left alone for me its what you do with them when your with them and i think i have one of the happiest dogs in the world. It feels like only the old or jobshy can adopt a pet which will only need re-homing when the elderly person dies or the jobshy get bored of the pet.... shame.

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SGB

Thursday, October 25, 2012
Surely the problem isn't so much how easy it is to get rid of them as how easy it is to GET them?

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beerlover

Saturday, October 20, 2012
I find this story fascinating - We have been looking for four kittens for well over 12 months - We ended up getting one from a farm in the back-end of Kent - Blue cross are far too picky as to whom they will let kittens go to -'Can't have one of you are not at home all day' for example - No wonder people are giving up on cats if those are the restrictions. I had a load of cats, all of whom lived for around 20 years, and I worked full time as a teacher, so why is it now that cats have to be house-sat all day?? Mine were all always healthy, friendly and happy, each female was allowed to have one litter before spaying and the kittens were always homed to nice people. Oh yes, I had Jack Russells too - and they were known as the nicest Jackies in the county - Queues for the few puppies we had - So - What is the Blue Cross doing wrong??

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happypam

Saturday, October 20, 2012
Not all dog owners leave a mess behind, just look at the overflowing poo bins! Neutering needs to be cheaper and should it really be subject to VAT? Licences would not work, I and the thousands of other law abiding dog lovers would pay, and 'MrMs look how hard I am with my pit bull', would ignore the licence charge like they ignore everything else to do with the dogs well being.

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ElaineD17

Saturday, October 20, 2012
This story suggests that because it is currently "too easy" to get rid of an unwanted pet, it should be made more difficult. If that were the case, the outcome should be fairly obvious to predict: those who wanted to get rid of pets would still do so, but may resort to more drastic means. BTW @MIGUEL100 YOUR KEYBOARD WILL WORK BETTER IF YOU TURN OFF THE LITTLE GREEN LIGHT ON THE CAPS LOCK KEY.

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bigger niche

Friday, October 19, 2012
THIS PROBLEM CAN EASY BE SOLVED , BY HAVING TO PAY FOR A LICENCE AND BE REGISTERED TO KEEP A DOG ,, THE MONEY THEN COULD GO TOWARDS HELPING TO PAY FOR DOG POO BINS AND CLEARING UP THE MESS THEY LEAVE BEHIND

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MIGUEL100

Friday, October 19, 2012

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Felixstowe: Too easy for people to get rid of unwanted pets, says Blue Cross

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