County Durham RSPCA animal centre launches Adoptober campaign amid rehoming crisis

The RSPCA is facing a rehoming crisis as new figures show that in 2023, 42% more animals arrived at the RSPCA than were adopted - with 63 animals currently at the charity's Felledge Animal Centre in Chester-le-Street.

RSPCA Felledge in County Durham, like all the charity’s 14 national rehoming centres, is at full capacity, with pets either waiting to be adopted, or being assessed for adoption - leaving countless dogs, cats and other animals still in emergency boarding waiting for a place at a rehoming centre.

So until animals like lurcher cross-breed Zeus, who has already been at Felledge for more than 150 days, are adopted, there is little to no space for new animals to be brought into the centre for rehoming.

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In response, the charity - which is marking its 200th year - is launching its annual 'Adoptober' rehoming campaign today; urging animal lovers to adopt a pet from a rescue centre rather than buying from a breeder to help ease the spiralling rehoming crisis.

Last year, while the charity’s 14 rehoming centres and 135 independently-run branches found new homes for an incredible 28,208 dogs, cats, rabbits and other pets, that was far fewer than the 40,118 animals that arrived at the shelters across England and Wales.

Karen Colman, who leads the RSPCA team finding places for rescued animals, said: “Our rescue centres are jam-packed, and across the board, we’ve been seeing more animals coming to us than we are rehoming.

“We are issuing a rallying cry to anyone in County Durham considering adding a pet to their family to step in and help by giving a rescue pet a second chance instead of buying from breeders.

“Our rehoming centres have reached crisis point and are full-to-bursting, creating a bottle-neck where we’re having to care for rescued animals at emergency boarding kennels and catteries."

The problem is now worse than the previous year - when pet intake (37,910) was 39% greater than the numbers rehomed (27,277). The spiralling problem is placing even more pressure on the charity, as it urgently searches for loving new homes for pets.

“So if you’re looking for a pet - whether it’s a cat or dog, a donkey or a bearded dragon - please visit our user-friendly ‘Find A Pet’ webpage and ‘adopt don’t shop’ this Adoptober.”