Dumped pets figure falls

As the RSPCA figures showed more than 200 animals – ranging from guinea pigs to a ferret – were abandoned across the UK.

Just one animal was rescued by Blackpool’s team near Poulton, with five animals recovered across Lancashire.

A total of 211 abandoned animals were rescued by the RSPCA in the two weeks between Christmas Eve and January 7, a drop of close to 50 per cent compared to the 419 animals rescued during the same period in 2010/11.

Animal rescue bosses believe the message is getting through to the public about not giving animals as Christmas gifts.

Today the RSPCA’s chief inspector Dermot Murphy said he was pleased to see the number of abandonments fall by such a significant amount.

He said: “A drop in abandonments is an encouraging sign and hopefully it shows that pet owners across England and Wales are taking more responsibility for their animals, even when times might be tough or circumstances change.

“We have been persisting with the message that abandoning animals is not acceptable for many years, so it is heartening to see that it seems to be sinking in even though we still rescued more than 11,000 abandoned animals in total during 2014.

“The festive fortnight has still proven to be a busy time. Our teams on the frontline have been working day and night to help injured, trapped and neglected animals and will continue to do so throughout the coming year.

“Hopefully those animals that needed our help in recent weeks will enjoy a more settled Christmas next time around.”

The overall number of abandoned animals rescued by the RSPCA in 2014 fell slightly compared to 2013 – down to 11,187 from 11,672.

“There is no such thing as a quiet time of year for us though and rescuing abandoned animals is only one part of an RSPCA officer’s job,” added Mr Murphy.

“We expect 2015 to be as busy as ever and remain committed to helping those animals that rely on the RSPCA.”

For more information about the RSPCA at Blackpool, contact (01253) 703000.