No rest for busy animal rescue charity
Almost 1,000 animal welfare jobs were carried out in Renfrewshire during the first six months of the year, new figures reveal.
New data from the Scottish SPCA shows there were a total of 939 call-outs attended in Renfrewshire, and another 339 in neighbouring East Renfrewshire.
This is from a total of 36,299 across Scotland.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Scottish SPCA reports an eight per cent drop in call-outs nationwide compared to the first six months of last year.
In the first half of this year, there were 119,564 calls to the charity’s animal helpline - a ten per cent drop from 133,047 on the previous period last year.
Lockdown forced the closure of all nine Scottish SPCA animal rescue and rehoming centres, which meant animals were arriving at the centres without being rehomed.
This put immense pressure on teams and resources.
To relieve this, an emergency foster scheme saw over 260 animals who were ready to be rehomed go out on foster. More than 70 were permanently rehomed by foster carers.
As restrictions eased, the SSPCA introduced virtual rehoming to get animals into loving homes.
Despite the closure, the Scottish SPCA has rehomed 1,796 animals in the first six months of the year. This is down by 23 per cent from 2,339 last year.
The Society’s National Wildlife Rescue Centre did not close its doors and continued to take in injured, sick or orphaned wild animals.
Admissions in the first half of this year are down 47 per cent from the same period last year.
Scottish SPCA chief executive Kirsteen Campbell said:“Our whole team has worked so hard through this unprecedented crisis, and the passion and dedication they have displayed all the way through has been truly inspirational.”