The recession has been disastrous for the UK’s pets and, following the latest news of the UK entering a double dip recession, sadly the situation for cats shows no signs of improving.
Following news last week that the UK has slipped back into recession, a national cat charity has issued an urgent appeal as more cats are being given up than ever before. Figures released today, and backed up by a recent University of Bristol study from the School of Veterinary Sciences , show an ever decreasing number of people coming forward to adopt cats, while the number of people needing to give up a cat or report a stray is on the rise. This is the worst it has been for the UK's leading feline welfare charity, Cats Protection, since the start of the recession, which has led to this plea for help. "I cannot emphasise enough how serious this is," said Peter Hepburn, Cats Protection's Chief Executive. "The recession has been disastrous for the UK's pets and, following the latest news of the UK entering a double dip recession, sadly the situation for cats shows no signs of improving." Queries to the charity's national helpline from 2009 to 2011 show: The number of people wanting to adopt a cat fell by 31 per cent (5,016 to 3,471) The number of people wanting to give up a cat increased by 14 per cent (8,308 to 9,459) The number of people reporting stray cats increased by 7 per cent (6,924 to 7,426) "These figures are just the tip of the iceberg because our 260 volunteer-run branches and 30 adoption centres all receive calls directly, which means the problem is much larger than we can demonstrate here.
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