Animal well-being supporters state the continuous cost-of-living crisis is a crucial element behind a disconcerting spike in animal cruelty throughout southern Western Australia.
Key points:
- Parts of the Great Southern and South West included plainly in a RSPCA report on animal cruelty and disregard
- Many animals are losing out on food and veterinarian care due to cost-of-living crisis
- A Bunbury rescue shelter says it’s dealing with extraordinary issues due to the variety of animals being quit
Earlier today RSPCA WA revealed which locations had the most animal cruelty reports in the 2022/23 fiscal year, with parts of the South West and Great Southern areas including plainly in the leading 10 for local locations.
Albany topped the local list with 190 cases, while Busselton saw a 98 percent boost to 121 cases.
Bunbury saw a small decrease however ranked 4th with 146 cases, with Harvey, Augusta-Margaret River and Collie likewise tape-recording increased figures in the leading 10.
The RSPCA said the spike was because of the high cost of living, which had actually resulted in some animal owners denying animals of “their most basic requires” such as food, water and veterinarian care.
RSPCA WA inspector supervisor Kylie Green informed ABC South West Mornings the figures were “stunning”.
“It must be improving, with cost of living certainly we’re all dealing with that. But what we require to do is make certain we’re really prioritising our animals and not leaving them to suffer.”
Cost of living having ‘enormous’ effect
The society’s position was backed by a South West animal rescue centre, which said there was an “extraordinary” difficulty dealing with regional shelters.
Bunbury Animal Rescue Rehome Care volunteer Linda Armstrong said the cost of living was requiring more individuals to quit their animals, however an absence of volunteers indicated lots of were turned away.
“The cost of living [and] homelessness is truly having an enormous impact. What occurs to those dogs later on? We simply do not understand,” she said.
“There might be disregard taking place as an intentional event, however there might well be a boost in disregard due to the fact that of situations beyond individuals’s control.”
Ms Armstrong said there was no fast repair to the issue, however enhancing volunteer numbers and informing individuals about the truths of pet ownership would be a good start.
