Man's best friend frozen out as crunch bites

LONDON (Reuters) - Thousands of dogs and cats face a bleak future in Britain because their owners are being forced to rent homes due to a housing downturn and landlords will not accept pets, a report showed on Wednesday.

The survey commissioned by UK charity Dogs Trust and conducted in June showed three-quarters of pet owners had faced problems finding rented accommodation, raising the risk of thousands of pets being abandoned or handed over to charities.

More than half of the 1,400 pet-owners surveyed said they had not found anywhere that allowed pets.

Dogs Trust also reported more calls from owners needing help with vets' bills or looking to rehome their pets because of growing financial difficulties as the British economy falters.

(Reporting by William Kemble-Diaz; Editing by Giles Elgood)

(See www.reutersrealestate.com for the global service for real estate professionals from Reuters).