Not just for lockdown!

If you’re thinking of a pup for Christmas, there’s plenty needing a loving home

- Sam Carlisle

It was horribly inevitable. Lockdown puppies are being increasingly abandoned by their owners. The RSPCA has warned that in the lead up to Christmas it is starting to see its centres fill with dogs and cats. Puppy pandemonium broke out during lockdown, and there was such a surge in demand for cute canines that prices doubled to an average £1,900. It was even stated there were so many more walkers traipsing across fields, puppies in tow, that attacks and, ultimately, deaths by cows increased.

The Dogs Trust now believes we could see up to 40,000 more abandoned pups this winter, especially if we see a recession. The financial crash of 2008 resulted in a 25% increase in abandoned dogs.

I must have spent 99% of lockdown saying, ‘No, we can’t have a puppy,’ while turning a blind eye to my son’s increasingly mournful face as he watched his friends’ TikTok films with their new bouncing bundles of fluff.