More and more sick and unwanted dogs are being passed off as 'fake strays' and dumped at animal shelters, staff at one rescue centre have claimed.
Volunteers at Hope Rescue, a small charity in Llanharan, Rhondda Cynon Taf, say that, rather than sign up to the long waiting lists in place for people wanting to surrender their pets responsibly, some callous owners are bypassing the system by handing over their animals under the pretence they were found roaming.
The centre, which takes in a quarter of all strays in Wales and already admits to being massively over-subscribed, is then legally obliged to take in the dogs - the sheer intake of which means some owners on the rehoming list are resorting to putting pets to sleep unnecessarily at the vets.
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And it seems the problem has been exacerbated with the easing of Covid restrictions, with families who'd previously bought four-legged companions whilst working from home now struggling to look after them as the world gradually opens back up.
More recent examples include a Jack Russell called Jess whose neurological issues have left her incontinent and unable to walk properly, along with a tiny chihuahua which someone claimed had been found lost up a mountain.
However, its deformed legs probably meant it could have never walked such a distance.
Similarly, one underweight German shepherd cross was discovered to have eaten a tea towel, causing damage to his internal organs.
But, instead of paying the £3,000 medical bill, its owners let it suffer for weeks before passing it off as a stray.
As a result, Hope Rescue's vet fees hit around a staggering £200,000 in 2021.
"And these dogs are still coming in - in fact, we estimate around 60% of dogs that arrive here as strays are fake," said Vanessa Waddon, founder of Hope Rescue.
"It's due to a combination of things - the surge in dog ownership during the pandemic and a lot of that demand being met by backyard breeders who have little concern for the health or temperament of the dogs they sell.
"Also the cost of living is rising, so people have less to spend on their animals, particularly when it comes to medical bills."
She added that the fake strays also end up staying in the centre's kennels much longer than necessary, as the lack of available information regarding their health and behavioural backgrounds makes them so much harder to re-home.
"The frightening thing is that in the first five weeks of 2022 we received more than 1,600 applications to adopt - more than we received in the whole of 2017," said Vanessa.
"And in that time we probably only managed to re-home about 30 dogs - so that's an awful lot of people going away disappointed.
"My worry is they'll then go somewhere less reputable to pick up a pet, only to discover too late there are problems with it.
"And, when they do find out, there's every likelihood the poor thing will end up being brought to our door, which kickstarts the problem all over again."
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