Bridgend County Borough Council struggles to find homes for dogs

Tue, 24 May 2011

In the borough of Bridgend, Wales, thirty three dogs have been put down, due to terminal health issues, in the past year making it impossible to re-home them .

According to animal welfare groups, the current economic climate has seen a rise in the number of owners trying to give up their pets as they can no longer afford to keep them.

Bridgend’s dog warden has dealt with 1,345 cases in the past financial year at a cost of £66,482. These cases resulted in 538 stray dogs being kennelled, 44 being returned to owners and 33 being put down and cremated at the taxpayers’ expense. The remaining dogs were handed over to private kennels after a seven-day period with the council’s dog warden.

Bridgend Dogs’ Rehoming Centre assistant manager Alison Creaton said: "These statistics don’t surprise me at all – we probably get about 10 calls a day here. People need to plan 16 or 17 years ahead if they decide to get a dog and things can happen like marriage breakups, people returning to work, having babies, moving house, meaning they are no longer able to take care of their dog."

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