The RSPCA is urging anyone considering adding a pet to their home to consider adoption. Photograph: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen The RSPCA is urging anyone considering adding a pet to their home to consider adoption. Photograph: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images Cats ‘We really need help’: RSPCA faces capacity crisis as cats arrive faster than they can be rehomed About 20,000 cats were taken into charity’s care last year, an increase driven in part by pet hoarders
Prefer the Guardian on Google There is a cat crisis in rescue centres across the country, the RSPCA has said, as abandoned felines now outnumber dogs in the charity’s shelters
Cats are arriving in RSPCA centres faster than they can be rehomed, and the charity is asking people across England and Wales to consider adopting. Pet owners are being urged to neuter their cats as kittens are increasingly being found dumped in perilous conditions
Pet hoarders are also contributing to the uptick in cats needing rescue. In 2025, the charity responded to 1,780 incidents involving 10 or more cats at a single address – almost five every day, and a nearly 65% increase on the year before. These incidents involved more than 36,000 cats in total
The RSPCA has run out of room for cats and dogs in its shelters. It has been dealing with capacity issues since last year, partly due to the rise in multi-animal