Family pets feel the pinch as households cut budgets

AS ECONOMIC times get tough, pets are some of the first to suffer, with thousands of owners now saying they can no longer pay for spiralling food and vet bills.

Half a million pet owners have been reduced to feeding their animals with household leftovers, while two-thirds are having to dig deeper to find an average of 11.04 each week to care for their pets.

One in five say they are dropping essentials such as visits to the vet in a bid to bring the weekly pet bill to under 5, blaming rocketing food prices and rising insurance premiums.

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According to a study released today by animal welfare charity the Blue Cross, pets from broken homes are the hardest hit as a result of financial pressures, with newly-separated couples spending almost 2 a week less on their pets than couples together.

The charity also found a 19 per cent increase in stray and abandoned animals in the past year, a total of 979 cats and 419 dogs. More than 4,000 animals were given up voluntarily, many for financial reasons.