"Tidal wave of sadness" for dog-owners struggling with living costs
Capital sees pet surrenders soar as Dog and Cat Home staff man the front line
“Dogs come into our lives to teach us about love. They depart to teach us about loss…”
The wise words of American novelist and satirist Erica Jong, and there is no dog-lover alive who won’t recognise the truth in them. But sadly, more Edinburghers are having to make the heart-breaking decision to learn about that loss far earlier than they would ever have anticipated.
We’re in danger of evolving in an unwelcome direction when it comes to our four-legged friends - from capital city of a nation of dog-lovers, to a community of despairing former dog-owners.
The cost-of-living crisis – allied with a phenomenon hard-pressed staff at Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home have called “lockdown dogs” – has created a perfect, bottle-necking storm.
Dogs are being surrendered to the Home, and other charities, every day. Not because they’re unwanted or neglected. Simply because those who love them can no longer afford to keep them. A combination of high pet food and vet costs can just be too much when you’re struggling to pay the mortgage or put food on the table.
And many of the dogs, particularly those who are 3-5 years old, have had the unhappy formative experience of lockdown, are therefore not properly socialised, and have subsequent anxieties and behaviour issues that makes re-homing more complicated.
This combination has resulted in the Home dealing with a tidal wave of angst.
Every day, seven days a week, dedicated staff at the Dog and Cat Home now man a helpline, taking at least a dozen calls a day, each call lasting an average of 20 minutes, often anguished.
Lindsay Fyffe-Jardine, Chief Executive at the Dog and Cat Home, describes the situation as “a tidal wave of sadness” and she has good reason. Her dedicated staff man a hotline for owners in distress, and they’re taking more than a dozen calls a day, seven days a week. On average, these unhappy calls last a full 20 minutes. People suffering real anguish.
“The calls may be about pets, but it’s people who are making the calls and they are people who are often really suffering and unhappy. We try to help as many people as we can, either through taking in a dog that’s being surrendered, or alternatively finding a way to keep them at homes where they are loved if we possibly can.”
It's not idle chat. The Dog and Cat Home’s pet foodbank work is helping 4500 owners keep loved pets at home that would otherwise be surrendered.
“It’s something that has been a huge help, and with more funding we could help more people. We know other animal charities are similarly inundated, but we do signpost callers to different places that can help. Often that also means help for the owners. The choice they are facing has often been brought about by really complex and difficult issues in their life – the breakdown of a relationship, the loss of a job and inability to continue paying a mortgage, the soaring cost-of-living meaning they can no longer afford to keep their much-loved pet.”
Last year saw the numbers of owners seeking to surrender their dogs, and cats, soar by an extraordinary 236% on 2022. This year, there is no sign of an abatement in this unhappy demand. It’s placing a huge strain on staff at the Dog and Cat Home.
“I see the worry and concern on their faces as they talk to these people on the phone. It’s not possible to have these conversations and be unaffected by them. We help as many as we can, but all the staff know we can’t help everyone who calls us and that eats away at them.”
The picture below is Pepper. She’s a healthy, 13-year-old cross breed who’s adored by her owners. I know this for certain because I’ve had the good fortune to be her human since she was a one-year-old rescue. The thought of having to surrender her for financial reasons would break my heart. It seems I’m lucky in that it’s a choice I don’t have to make.
The physical and mental health benefits of owning a dog are increasingly recognised. A 2019 study by the American Heart Association found dog ownership was associated with longer life among heart attack and stroke survivors. Research in the US and Australia in 2015 found dog owners were more likely than non-pet owners to meet local friends – reducing social isolation.
Lindsay added: “We know what it means for those going through these challenges to keep their families whole, with so many relying on their pets for companionship, comfort and a feeling of being loved. It’s not something any of us give up lightly and people forced to consider that choice tend to suffer the impact of that stress and mental distress.”
Almost inevitably, most of the impact is being felt in more deprived communities. But it is not confined to areas of deprivation by any means. “Those on lower incomes obviously are badly hit when prices rise as they have in the past year, but the cost-of-living crisis has impacted people pretty much across the spectrum.
“We’ve had people come towards us with the same difficult choices from backgrounds where you may not have expected it, people for whom the financial and personal situation has just become so difficult that something has to give.”
Perhaps that is not surprising. Around one in four households is likely to own a dog in the UK. When you consider the pet supplies market in the UK is around £10 billion, you can see a lot of people spend a lot of money, on a lot of dogs.
It’s hard to see what more the Home could do, but Lindsay does see through the gloom. “Our foodbank work sustains many, but can’t keep up with all of the demand from people struggling to pay for pet food. I know vet bills are another factor.
“We really appreciate every single person who supports our work – we could do nothing without them – but more help would allow us to focus also on our outreach work, to try to do more to prevent the situations that lead to people being forced to surrender their dogs in the first place.
“It’s not those who are here with us who occupy my thoughts, I already know how great the care is that they receive. It’s those not yet here, I can’t dare think about what they are going through. For those who have come through our doors there is love, rehabilitation and the hope of a new home. For those pets and their owners who we haven’t been able to help yet I know the anguish, heartache and desperation will not have gone away.”
Let’s end with another quote. “If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die, I want to go where they went.” – Will Rogers, Social Commentator
If you want to help, you can access more information at Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home | Love Without Limits