Cats abandoned due to cost of neutering - charity

Pet owners being unable to afford to neuter their cats has contributed to a rise in the animals being abandoned, a charity has claimed.

Linzi Fallows, 50, is one of the founders of Pippa's Army Animal Rescue, a charity that takes in mainly stray cats around Thurrock and Havering in Essex.

Between 2021 and 2024 there was a 51% increase in abandoned animals in England and Wales according to the RSPCA.

Miss Fallows, from Basildon, said: "People can't afford to [neuter] anymore, they don't think about neutering anymore.

"Since Covid there is such a throw away culture - people are getting animals and not keeping them."

In the UK it can cost between £100 and £190 for neutering and Miss Fallows said: "I couldn't afford that."

She added there was a lack of education and responsibility when it comes to neutering cats.

"There needs to be something in place where cats get neutered before they go to a new home," she added.

Figures released by the RSPCA last year, revealed Essex had 582 cases of abandoned animals in 2023 compared to 414 in 2021, a 41% increase.

Pippa's Army opened in 2016 and takes care of about 100 cats and kittens, of which about 95% of them are stray.

Miss Fallows said: "We're full, they've got no room, it is just absolutely horrendous out there, people are just dumping them left right and centre, it's heart-wrenching."

She said last year it had cost her £4,000 per month to run her rescue shelter, but now it has started to cost her £5,000 to £6,000.

Tarryn Twitchett, from the Blue Cross animal charity, said: "A lot of the time [the cats] are not neutered, we are seeing them come to us who are pregnant and they have unwanted litters.

"We've seen a huge increase of people giving up their cats."

She said some people have asked them to come to their homes because their cat has become pregnant with a stray.

Ms Twitchett said the increase could be due to a number of reasons including people not being able to afford pets and a high backlog of vet appointments caused by the pandemic.

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