Decline in adoption rates at Devon animal rescue group

An animal rescue centre said less people have been adopting its dogs due to animals’ behavioural issues.

Gables Cats and Dogs Home in Plymouth said some dogs in its care were “difficult” and had certain requirements, making it harder to find their forever homes.

General manager Claire Sparkes said a lot of the rescue dogs were bought in during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown and had not been socialised or trained.

She added that some dogs also suffered from separation anxiety, or were unable to be around other dogs and cats, or were unsafe around children.

She asked potential adopters to be more focused on the personality of the animals rather than what they looked like.

“We have recently taken in a lot of greyhounds who have retired from racing.

“They’re dogs we can rehome to first-time dog owners, or with children and other dogs,” Ms Sparkes added.

“We’ve always had problems with rehoming black cats and kittens, but it’s actually transferring into black and white now.”

Ms Sparkes, who said the facility had rehomed roughly 60 fewer cats and 30 fewer dogs than usual over the past two years, added that such conditions meant it was “restrictive” who it could allow to take on the animals.

She said the rescue centre received a lot of negative comments and abuse online because people thought it was the rescue being “fussy or difficult”.

“We’ve got to be sensible because we are a responsible organisation and we match animals to the people,” Ms Sparkes said.

“It’s not just a case of picking one you like the look of. It has to be the right dog for you and your family.”

She said adoption rates had also declined across the country, and other animal centres had difficult dogs and people could no longer afford vet bills.

Ms Sparkes said: “There’s a lot of reasons why it’s going down, but we are full of difficult and traumatised dogs as well; and we take a lot of dogs from the RSPCA that are from abuse cases.

“It’s really tough at the moment, and it’s even tougher when we read the horrible comments online when staff and volunteers work so hard.”