UK Dog Adoption:Recession Raises Rufus’s Rates

Well…I could not believe my eyes.  Local and national US agencies report donations are down, with give-ups rising steeply because of the economy.  There’s no roof over poor Rufus’s head here.  But in the UK, the dog adoption story and the economy seems to take a very different path.

Dogs Trust, the largest dog welfare organization, announced Thursday that the month of February–despite the weather and being the shortest month of the year–has produced the highest record of adoptions since record keeping began!

Dog Magazine reports that to the Dogs Trust it appears that people are deciding quality of life, in the form of  sharing family life with a dog, is more important than worrying about the money it will take to keep him or her healthy.  Adopting a dog is less expensive than going to a breeder, and the Trust suggests that with the loss of gym memberships, a dog is a good stand-in for gym regimented exercise, if you take it seriously.  Dogs Trust CEO, Clarissa Baldwin, said “It seems that as times are getting tougher for people financially, they are seeking fulfilment in more real ways…
You cannot place a price in pounds on the value that dogs add to our lives…”

The ASPCA estimates there will be about 1 million homeless dogs this year, on top of the already burgeoning populations testing shelters’ capacity.  There’s another story to pursue on this side of the pond.