A large number of animal shelters across the country are reaching crisis point.
The Dublin County dog shelter in Newcastle is the latest to reach capacity with dogs having to sleep outside in crates.
The cost of living, the housing crisis, and the continued fallout from Covid lockdowns, have led to many shelters reaching full capacity.
Head of Communications and Education at the DSPCA Gillian Bird says surrendering pets to shelters is often the last option:
"It's very difficult to know exactly why, but I think some of it does seem to be this this scare of the cost of keeping these pets. A lot of the animals we take in are starting to be older animals that are starting to develop medical conditions, and I think it's a lot of people scared about how much it's going to cost them in the future. And we are still, of course, getting in animals that people have realised their circumstances have changed".
