Former Chief Executive of Battersea Dogs and Cats home Claire Horton told Desert Island Discs that a dog had been returned to the shelter after the owner claimed it ‘didn’t match the sofa’.
This comes as British shelters report a rise in unwanted pets across the UK.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Lauren Laverne, Horton said that during the first wave of the pandemic Battersea ‘were getting 1,500 almost every day and applications onto our online rehoming portal.’
Despite owners having more time for their pets while at home, Horton said that 10% of rehomed pets are soon returned to the charity.
Although the most common reasons are ‘illness’ or ‘relationship breakdown’, Battersea ‘get people who will bring [their pets] back because they hadn’t thought it was going to wee on the carpet or chew the bottom of their door.’
‘We've even had a dog come back once because it didn't match the sofa,’ she said.
This particular owner has been banned from the shelter and the dog rehoused.
Despite the massive rise in demand for pets during lockdown, leading to a similar rise in pet-napping and pets sourced from low-welfare breeders, the Scottish SPCA stated this week that its centres have hit capacity.
They said that their unwanted animals team had attended an average of 214 incidents a day and that calls to their hotline had increased by 130% between September and January.
This hasn’t stopped thieves attempting to steal pets this year.
On Tuesday two Labradors were returned to their owners after being stolen from outside a Marks and Spencer in Cheshire.
A man, a woman and a fourteen boy have been arrested on suspicion of theft.
