by Andy Gray

agray@thekmgroup.co.uk

It's been another “awful” year for animal abandonments, according to the RSPCA.

The charity took 28,162 calls last year about dumped pets across the UK, compared to 27,755 in 2010.

In 2007, the total was 21,481 amounting to a 31% rise over five years.

It means an increasing burden on animal centres such as the RSPCA in Leybourne, which is already full to the brim with unwanted pets.

Christine Dooley, the centre manager, said: “We’re always full and it’s getting progressively worse.

"It's not a new phenomenon, it’s the usual problem of people acquiring pets without having an understanding of their needs.

"We had calls from the public this week about a woman who was keeping her seven-week-old kitten outside in a cage whenever she left the house.

"The kitten ended up coming to us because the woman admitted she didn’t know how to care for it.

"She'd been feeding it puppy worm tablets and the kitten’s tummy was the size of a drum.”

The centre was also due to take custody of four abandoned kittens last week which were found cowering in a cardboard box in a resident’s garden having reportedly been thrown over the fence.

"We're finding all sorts of animals abandoned, guinea pigs, dogs, rats and rabbits, it’s not just cats,” Mrs Dooley said.

"Finding homes for them is more of a problem this time of year because people go on holiday and spend more time away from home at Christmas.”
There was some good news.

Between January 1 and January 5 this year, there were 77 abandonments at RSPCA branches across the South East, 16 fewer than the first five days of 2011.

Mrs Dooley added: “When people abandon animals it makes life so much more difficult for us.”

"It means we can't plan emergency accommodation at the centre, so we would urge people to think before they acquire pets.