Animal care charity RSPCA WA’s lower rate of pet surrenders wasn’t due to fewer animals being given up, but was because the organisation had run out of space to accept more, says chief operating officer Hannah Dreaver.
Ms Dreaver said the number of surrendered animals fell slightly last financial year from 1406 to 1193.
“However, this was largely because our facility was housing three times as many animals seized by inspectors than the year before,” she said.
“And the average length of stay for each animal was up from 48 days to 61 days.
“Put simply, we didn’t have the room to be able to take in any more surrenders than we did.”
Ms Dreaver said 168 pets had been surrendered from the cities of Armadale, Canning, Gosnells and Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale.
Armadale and Gosnells had the highest rates, with 57 and 72 respectively, according to RSPCA WA’s data.
RSPCA’s report said 27 dogs and puppies had been surrendered in Armadale, 40 cats and kittens in Gosnells and 18 guinea pigs in Canning.
Ms Dreaver said the reasons for surrender varied.
“Most were due to financial constraints, either their owners could no longer afford to care for them in general or they couldn’t afford the vet care the animal required,” she said.
“Twenty-five animals were surrendered because their owners said they had too many and 12 were because of owners’ issues accessing pet-friendly housing.
“Other reasons included owners becoming ill and no longer being able to care for the animals, behavioural reasons such as not getting on with other animals or owners finding them difficult to control and animals that had been left behind when their owners moved.”
