Albany animal rescue service records rise in surrendered pets as rental crisis peaks

Albany pet owners are giving up their pets in a desperate bid to secure homes, with a local volunteer animal rescue service reporting a rise in surrenders this month as WA’s rental crisis continues to bite.

Albany Animal Welfare rescue co-ordinator Kaylah Tugwell said in the week after WA’s emergency rental moratorium ended on March 28, she had had a flurry of calls from concerned owners looking to temporarily re-home or surrender their animals.

“I think I received about 13 calls in one day for surrenders,” she said.

“It has quietened down a little bit now, but when it was looming a couple of weeks ago we had quite a lot of calls.” Ms Tugwell said it was horrible to see families left with no choice but to surrender their pets.

“We try to save everything we can,” she said.

“Obviously we need more carers ... because the more carers we have, the more animals we can save.”

Albany Animal Welfare volunteers take in surrendered pets, caring for them before they are re-homed.

But with a small team in the middle of kitten season, — which saw 20 kittens surrendered in one week earlier this month — Ms Tugwell urged owners to reach out to family and friends first if they needed temporary care for their pet.

“There are definitely other options out there and we recommend starting with family or friends first and then contacting us and we can try our best to fit them in and go from there,” she said.

“When we have kittens in care and people wanting us to take in adults, it is certainly difficult for us to find somewhere for them to go.”

Ms Tugwell said anyone who wanted to volunteer in the group’s op shop or as a pet carer could call the team on 0431 919 584.