Government help still needed to ease pet ownership burden, warns charity

A leading canine charity has renewed its plea for Government action after analysis indicated inflation rates for dog owners remain more than double the overall level.

Dogs Trust leaders have demanded a VAT cut for pet food after its recent National Dog Survey found nearly a fifth of owners were considering using cheaper brands on cost grounds.

The charity has now released the findings of research compiled with Oxford Economics, which showed what it terms “dogflation” stood at 9.2% in December, compared to the headline rate of 4%.

Rising ownership

It also found that the costs of dog ownership had been rising faster than inflation in every single month since August 2022.

The latest intervention comes amid growing speculation about tax cuts ahead of the Spring Budget on 6 March and the continuing toll being taken on dogs and their owners by high costs.

The charity said it received more than 45,000 relinquishment inquiries last year, including 3,277 in the last month alone.

‘Desperate owners’

Dogs Trust chief executive Owen Sharp said: “As we continue to receive handover enquiries from desperate owners, our priority is to keep as many dogs with their families as we can, and we’ll continue to work with our counterparts across the animal welfare sector to try to ensure dogs won’t go hungry.

“But this burden shouldn’t sit on the charity sector’s shoulders alone. We desperately need the government to step up and play its part for this country’s dogs and their owners, by cutting the 20% VAT on pet food, at least for the time being.”

More than 100,000 people previously signed the charity’s recently submitted Paws the VAT petition, which called for a suspension of the tax on both pet food and veterinary service charges.