Homes For Pups campaign: Burnley and Pendle pet owners abandoning their dogs due to cost of living, RSPCA reveals

Some people can no longer afford to pay for dog food and vet bills, reveals a foster coordinator for the RSPCA's Lancashire East branch.

Sue Abraham sees neglected, poorly, and starved dogs come into the animal centre with untreated medical conditions.

"They can end up [in a situation where] they're not going to see the vets or they're not having any medical treatment. If they've got skin problems, it can cause fur loss."

We visited the Huncoat animal centre for our Homes For Pups campaign. The centre’s kennels are only licensed for 14 dogs and it has a waiting list of pets to come in. This means people often have to wait to put their dogs up for adoption as the rescue is "constantly full". Unable to care for their pets, they abandon them.

"Many people have to give up their animals, not necessarily voluntarily. People can't afford them and it's the first thing they will have to give up."

More dogs are coming in than being adopted, Sue added. The charity cannot take more animals into the centre until a kennel becomes available.

"It means we have more people waiting for their animals to come into the centre. When we're full, we can't necessarily take them in straight away. We have a waiting list system, so as soon as we have a kennel available, we will contact them and ask them to bring them in.

"But in some cases, that means it's too long for people to wait, which means that [the dogs] are abandoned."