It has been revealed that the RSPCA received more than 100 reports of animals being abandoned every single day throughout last year (2021).
In total, the RSPCA received 38,087 abandonment reports last year - an average of over 3,000 reports a month, 104 a day or four abandoned animals every hour.
Across Buckinghamshire, there were 340 abandoned animals reported to the RSPCA in 2021.
So far this year, between January and July, the charity has already received 222 reports of abandoned animals in Buckinghamshire - an 11% increase from Jan-Jul 2021.
The RSPCA now fears that a huge rise in pet ownership during the pandemic coupled with the cost of living crisis will lead to even more animals are being given up this year.
The animal welfare charity has released the stark figures as part of its Cancel Out Cruelty summer campaign.
The campaign aims to raise funds to keep its rescue teams on the frontline saving animals in desperate need of help as well as raise awareness about how we can all work together to stop cruelty for good.
Dermot Murphy, Chief Inspectorate Officer at the RSPCA, said: “The idea of putting your cat in a cat carrier and taking them to a secluded spot in the woods before walking away, or chucking your dog out of the car and driving off leaving them desperately running behind the vehicle, is absolutely unthinkable and heartbreaking to most pet owners - but sadly we are seeing animals callously abandoned like this every single day.
“We understand that sometimes the unexpected can happen - the pandemic and cost of living crisis proved that - but there is never an excuse to abandon an animal. There are always other options for anyone who has fallen on hard times and can no longer afford to keep their pet.”
From January to July 2021 there were 18,375 abandonment reports compared to 22,908 in the first seven months of this year - a rise of 24%.
According to the charity, dogs were the most abandoned pet with 14,462 reports of dumped dogs made to the RSPCA last year.
Cats were the second most abandoned pet with 10,051 reports of cats being callously dumped in 2021.
There were also 3,363 abandoned exotic pets reported including 1,455 fish and 685 snakes.
In Buckinghamshire, two gerbils were left on a doorstep were abandoned in their cage and dumped like rubbish near the bins outside flats in Milton Keynes.
Luckily, they were spotted by a member of the public who contacted the RSPCA for help in November.
An RSPCA officer attended the address in Milton Keynes where the two small gerbils had been abandoned inside a cage with a little bit of water and food left for them.
The poor were cold and scared but thankfully a member of the public spotted them and brought them into their flat before calling us.
The two gerbils were taken into the care of a kind fosterer at the RSPCA Milton Keynes branch.
