Cost Of Living Crises Hits Dog Owners Across The UK

The recent economic crisis to hit the UK with high costs for essentials such as eating and heating has left many dog owners unable to provide for their dogs. Because of this, Dogs Trust, the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, had unprecedented numbers of enquiries from desperate pet owners who feel they’ve run out of options.

With adoption numbers dropping because people can’t afford to take on a new dog, this has the potential to lead to a housing crisis for the nation’s dogs.

Owen Sharp CEO for Dog Trust stated “Over recent months, we’ve received a record number of calls from people asking us to take in their dogs, in the face of the new cost of everyday living. Inquiries to give up a dog have increased to the highest level since our records began, with 4,370 inquiries received in July 2022.

There’s been a notable increase in the number of people calling in for financial reasons, citing huge increases in their regular monthly bills, such as energy and mortgage payments, as the reason why they can no longer afford doggy basics such as food, which has also increased in price.

Our monthly poll of the UK’s dog owners, run by YouGov, shows that 40% of respondents this month thought they would find it more difficult to give their dog all they needed, compared to before the cost-of-living crisis began.

Vet bills continued to cause the most worry; over half (51%) of dog owners said vet bills were currently their biggest financial canine concern for the coming year. One in five (20%) were most worried about the cost of dog food, while 15% named insurance as their lead worry.

Meanwhile, when non-dog owners were asked whether the rising cost of living would prevent them from adopting or buying a dog, six out of ten (61%) said it would.