Cost of living and mental health crisis driving mass animal rescues, says RSPCA

Charity says it dealt with 75 incidents last year involving 100 or more animals living in one property

The cost of living crisis and an increase in people experiencing mental health difficulties have led to a rising number of multi-animal rescue incidents in England and Wales, an RSPCA superintendent has said.

The animal charity this week had to confirm that a shocking photograph of more than 250 poodle-cross dogs found at a property in the UK was not faked with artificial intelligence. The RSPCA took in 87 of the dogs and the remainder went to the Dogs Trust, another charity.