Taunton animal shelter struggling with 'lockdown puppy' influx

A Taunton animal shelter has seen its waiting list soar as owners give up their pets in the face of rising bills.

St Giles Animal Centre is currently full with a further 65 animals waiting for a place there.

About half of the dogs in the shelter were bought during lockdown, with many lacking basic social skills.

Jack Linnell, St Giles' director, warned the problem was likely to get worse as the cost-of-living crisis deepens.

Speaking to BBC West, Mr Linnell said: "Obviously everyone was looking to adopt and buy puppies during lockdown.

"We are now seeing lots of rescue animals coming to the centre that are two or three years old that haven't had the socialisation they needed two years ago, so that makes our life rehoming more difficult."

Staff at St Giles are now hoping to test a pet food bank in the new year in a bid to enable more people to keep their pets.

Mr Linnell said the centre was currently seeking pet food suppliers to work with them on the scheme.

"If these animals have a loving home, it is a shame to take them out of that home if it is just down to (the cost of) feeding them," he said.

The centre also has concerns over its own energy costs this winter and is planning to launch a fundraising campaign among its supporters to help it heat its kennels.

One of the dogs staff at the centre are trying to help is called Saph.

She is a cross between a Pressa Canario and a Bully Kutta - both of which were bred as guard and hunting dogs.

Gemma Power, rescue office coordinator at St Giles, said: "She needed quite a bit of rehabilitation.

"She was a lockdown puppy essentially - she had no socialisation with new people... so she does find the big wide world a bit scary."

Ms Power added: "She's quite a big breed.

"She does look quite intimidating at times but we do think a lot of her wariness around people as well as around other dogs... is because she was not exposed to that as a very young puppy.

"Obviously while she finds it very difficult now, she's made a lot of progress here."

Ms Power estimated about half the dogs in the shelter were bought during lockdown.

She said lots of them were now having to adapt to things such as meeting new dogs and people, trips to the vet and car journeys as "troublesome teens" that the should have learned as puppies.

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