We can’t rescue our way out of Britain’s dog welfare crisis

One thing became clear very quickly: by the time someone reaches a crisis point, things have usually been going wrong for a while.

I see the same pattern now in dog welfare.

At Dogs Trust, we’re caring for around 1,500 dogs at any one time. Many are staying with us longer than they used to, often with complex behavioural needs. On average, dogs are with us for nearly two months. We’re still finding homes for thousands of dogs every year - more than 2,500 already this year alone - but what sits behind those numbers is getting tougher.

The simple truth is this. We can’t rescue our way out of it.

For years, charities like ours have stepped in when things fall apart. When a dog needs a new home. When an owner can no longer cope. That work matters. It always will.

But on its own, it isn’t enough anymore.

The pressures are building earlier. The pandemic changed the dog population, and it grew by several million. Many dogs missed out on early socialisation. Since then, the cost of living and housing pressures have made things harder for owners, too.

People aren’t giving up their dogs lightly. Most reach a point where they feel they have no other option. By then, it’s much harder to turn things around.

If we want to change this, we must act sooner.

That means helping owners when problems first start, especially around behaviour, which is one of the main reasons dogs are given up. It means making expert support easier to access. And it means recognising that, in most cases, the best place for a dog is the home it already knows.

That’s the shift we’re making at Dogs Trust. Alongside rehoming, we’re putting far more emphasis on prevention and early intervention.

This is how we scale our impact. Not just by how many dogs we rehome, but by how many we help keep in loving homes in the first place.

Rescue will always be part of the answer. But if we focus only on the end of the problem, we’ll always be playing catch-up.

If we want fewer dogs to reach a crisis point, we need to start much earlier.

We can’t do it alone. If we’re serious about improving dog welfare in this country, owners need the right support too. That means more homes that allow pets, clearer and fairer rules for renters, and access to affordable advice and support when problems first emerge.

It also means recognising that prevention must be part of the system, not an afterthought. Because if we only step in when things fall apart, we’ll always be trying to catch up.

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Owen Sharp is Chief Executive of Dogs Trust, the UK’s largest dog welfare charity.

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