Floods prompt big rise in dumped pets

LONDON (Reuters) - The number of unwanted pets being dumped by their owners rose 23 percent last year, the RSPCA said on Monday, with people using excuses such as "my cat doesn't match my new carpet" for getting rid of their animals.

The animal charity said 7,347 animals had been cast aside by their owners in 2007, up from 5,959 the previous year. Almost half were cats.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said it had rescued almost 150,000 wild, exotic, farm and domestic animals, many which needed help because of the floods that engulfed much of Britain last summer.

But among those pets that were simply abandoned were a litter of kittens left in a dustbin bag for refuse collectors and a rabbit dumped in a box in a crushing machine at a recycling centre.

Owners had also given bizarre reasons for getting rid of their pets, such as "my dog hurts my leg when she wags her tail."

"It is an offence to abandon any animal and there is never any excuse for doing so," said Tim Wass, chief officer of the RSPCA inspectorate.

"Last summer we deployed the biggest number of RSPCA staff for a generation to the rescue of farm animals, horses and other much-loved pets from the severe floods that swept the country."

The charity said the trend for dumping pets looked set to continue with 2,621 abandoned animals already rescued this year.

(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Steve Addison)