The Cost of Living and Pet Ownership

The cost of living crisis that currently has the UK in its grips has a further reach than you might think. It doesn’t just negatively impact the people who find themselves caught up in it. It also has an impact on their pets.

The RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), as part of their Animal Kindness Index 2022, found that this was becoming an issue among pet owners. Under the cost of living section of the report, the RSCA writes “Pet owners are not exempt from the pressures on household finances. For over two-thirds of pet owners (68%), it is more expensive to look after their pet now compared to last year. In reality that means that costs have increased for an estimated 18.5 million pet owners.”

My primary concern is that this will lead to an increase in pets being surrendered or abandoned when their owners are no longer able to afford to take care of them. It is not just simply a case of feeding a pet as some may believe. There are other costs such as pet insurance, vet bills and vaccinations to take into consideration.

A pet is a family member for some pet owners and it’s an unpleasant thought that some people will feel forced into taking drastic action due to an increasingly stretched budget. This also has a knock-on effect on the charities that are trying to deal with an increase in pets needing their care. Money is not an infinite resource for them either.

This is a concern that is also shared by the RSPCA. In an article from The Northern Echo, they tell the paper “Tragically we’re starting to see an increase in the abandonment of pets and growing numbers of cats and rabbits being rescued and coming into our care.”

A blog entry on the Beckman Kennels website shows the issue from a different and a little more of an optimistic perspective. It details the finding from a survey they conducted with 500 UK pet owners.

The first question asked in the survey was relating to increases in the cost of pet ownership since the crisis. An increase in the price of pet food, perhaps not surprisingly, came out on top with 49.8% of those surveyed stating that it had increased.

What is heartening here is that the second question asked was about what would pet owners cut back on before reducing the amount they spent on their pets, if anything. Most of those who responded were prepared to cut back on things such as eating out and subscription services to continue meeting the needs of their pets.

The blog entry combines this information with suggestions on how the owners may be able to reduce some of the costs.

I think it will be some time before we see the full impact of the cost of living crisis and the long-term effect it will have on some of the people and pets of the UK.