Faced with an overload of kittens, puppies and other animals the RSPCA held its first open day at its Weston site since the pandemic. In a bid to encourage more adoptions. The not-for-profit group says cost-of-living is a key reason why many owners give up their animals, and those pressures have contributed to a surge in surrenders.
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00:00Just 5 days into April, there have been 36 animals added to the RSPCA's list of pets
00:09waiting for an owner for the month.
00:11I've been at RSPCA now for 15 years and I've never seen the animal numbers remain so steadily
00:15high. So normally this time of year we would have around 160 animals in care, we're more
00:21than double that right now.
00:23The RSPCA fears those numbers will continue to climb unless people are educated about
00:28responsible pet ownership and face consequences when they don't comply.
00:33They say cost of living pressures have caused some owners to surrender animals they can't
00:38afford to care for, as have breeders who can't find buyers for their litters.
00:43And demand is becoming too much for the centre, which will mark 70 years of operation in September
00:49this year.
00:50So the facility is falling apart as we speak. Ideally we need more spaces to hold these
00:56animals, but enclosures that are also purpose-built for them as well. So we have shipping containers
01:00that have multiple cages with ferrets in them, other containers that have guinea pigs, and
01:05just very, very old enclosures that definitely need rebuilding.
01:10The ACT government has committed $40 million to build a new RSPCA facility at Pialago to
01:17increase the capacity for the housing and desexing of animals. But more than three years
01:22on, no sod has been turned. The government will submit a development application later
01:28this month.
01:29Options are being presented to government imminently, and when those options are approved
01:35we'll be able to start the process more formally with the RSPCA.
01:42Until then, a network of 300 animal foster carers will provide puppies like Lulu Lemon
01:48with a temporary home.