A new study has estimated that over 260,000 cats and dogs entered the care of UK rescue organisations during 2009, the first full year since the onset of the UK recession.
The aim of the research was to estimate the number of cats and dogs, currently being cared for by UK welfare organisations, the proportion of time that these organisations were full to capacity and the number entering these organisations during a 12-month period. The University of Bristol study by Dr Corinna Clark and colleagues in the School of Veterinary Sciences is published in the Veterinary Record.
Cats and dogs are popular pets in the UK, with two of the authors of this study, Dr Jane Murray (funded by Cats Protection) and Professor Tim Gruffydd-Jones, having previously estimated the owned cat and dog populations at approximately 10.3 and 10.5 million respectively.
Over 1,550 welfare organisations were contacted by post, email or telephone between November 2010 and June 2011. The UK welfare organisations that participated in the study were the Blue Cross, Cats Protection, Dogs Trust, RSPCA, USPCA, SSPCA, as well as independent organisations, including breed-specific rescues. They were asked to provide details including the number of cats and dogs currently being cared for, whether they were operating at full capacity and for how much of the year they were full and how many cats and dogs entered their care during a full year (2009).
From the responses received it was estimated that 131,070 cats and 129,743 dogs entered the care of UK welfare organisations during 2009. In addition, 66 per cent of responding organisations that cared for cats and 47 per cent of those caring for dogs were full to capacity for 12 months of the year.
It is therefore likely that the actual numbers of cats and dogs needing assistance far exceeds the estimated figures because for the organisations that are full the intake rate will be regulated by the r
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| Contact: Joanne Fryer joanne.fryer@bristol.ac.uk 44-117-331-7276 University of Bristol Source:Eurekalert |
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