RSPCA warns of 'grim winter' ahead for pets as animal abandonment cases rise in Milton Keynes

The situation is so bad that the charity has launched a special ‘Big Give Back to Animals’ appeal to support local frontline efforts.

Local incidents of animal abandonment raised with the RSPCA went up up by more than three percent in the first ten months of the year, and the RSPCA predicts it will be “grim winter” with many more cases to come.

Up to the end of October, 180 incidents about an animal being abandoned or dumped in Buckinghamshire had been raised with the charity's emergency line - up from 174 in the first 10 months of 2024.

Across England and Wales, 24,270 abandonment incidents have been reported so far this year - a rise of almost 23 percent compared with the same time period last year (19,727).

That means - in the first ten months of this year - an abandonment incident was reported to the RSPCA’s emergency line every nine minutes it was open.

Reports of animal abandonment are set to reach their highest point in at least six years - and issues like the ongoing cost of living crisis mean animals need the RSPCA's support to "survive, heal and thrive" now more than ever.

RSPCA superintendent Simon Osborne said: “It’s been an incredibly challenging year for many pets, and we have seen a dramatic and heartbreaking rise in abandonments this year. “And with winter upon us, with plummeting temperatures and dark nights, we fear things could get even harder in the months to come. “Sadly, animal abandonment has become so problematic and so tragically widespread, that we've seen more incidents every month this year when compared to 2024; and reports have been rising year after year. One example is Stig, and elderly, almost bald and tiny Syrian hamster, who was found abandoned by communal bins in Milton Keynes last February. An RSPCA officer raced the hamster, who had mange and only a small amount of fur left, to a local vet for treatment.

It was later found he had cancer. Fortunately his welfare started to improve in the care of the Hartwells Homeless Small Animal Sanctuary.

RSPCA Animal Rescue Officer Rebecca Frost said at the time: “It is heartbreaking to think that this poor little hamster was just left abandoned by some bins and treated like rubbish." Stig lived out five months of happy retirement with Hartwells before sadly passing away in August this year.

Now urgent funding needed to keep reaching other animals in need.

Simon said: “Animals are sentient; they feel joy, fear, love and pain, just like we do. They give us so much, and ask for so little. Sadly, without help, many animals will die this winter – scared, suffering, and unloved. “Thankfully, there is hope...Every year, we find loving new homes for tens of thousands of pets, and rescue countless animals from situations of hopeless cruelty and neglect. “But none of this work is possible without the kindness and generosity of our supporters. Every pound and penny people give goes towards creating a better world for every kind of animal.”

More information on the RSPCA’s ‘Big Give Back to Animals’ can be found on the charity’s website here.