Over 12,000 animals in need helped by The Mayhew

To start off the year highlighting how many animals and pet owners in the UK capital desperately need help, we have released statistics from our veterinary database.

Our computer system means that every animal that arrives at The Mayhew can be tracked and logged into a database. This includes every stray, abandoned and unwanted pet and also any of the cats, dogs or rabbits that have come to the Community Veterinary Clinic onsite at the Animal Home since June 2006.

These figures prove that as a small charity in a capital city it is essential to provide the services we do in order to save the lives of thousands of animals and provide support and advice to pet owners facing difficulty. These statistics reflect just how many animals are in need. The Mayhew is committed to giving every animal a second chance and we have veterinary staff available every day, in addition to care staff and foster carers, in order to get every animal back on their feet, no matter how long it takes.

The Mayhew Animal Home’s neutering statistics also reflect the high demand for both a low-cost and a free service. From 2007, the clinic has carried out 4523 neutering procedures. This includes the 513 outpatient bull breed procedures carried out free of charge in their Community Veterinary Clinic in 2009 alone (1130 since 2007 when the scheme began). Working on the premise that every female dog will breed and every one of her offspring goes on to breed then that can be 20-40,000 dogs in their lifetime* meaning a total of 1,026,0000 bull breed puppies were prevented from being born into a society already flooded with unwanted puppies and dogs.

*HSUS.org

In addition to re homing cats and dogs, we offer a Pet Refuge programme and run several Community Animal Care schemes with their four Animal Welfare Officers, including Trap, Neuter and Return for feral cats, homeless community support and free micro-chipping services. The Community Veterinary Clinic at the Home offers low-cost neutering and vaccinations in addition to the Free Bull Breed Neutering scheme, which is offered to all bull breed owners, irrespective of location or financial status as a way of actively adressing the hugh problem on over population and status dogs in London.

No matter which party is in power next, they need to change Dog Control legislation immediately

No matter which party is in power next, they need to change Dog Control legislation


The Mayhew believes the government needs to place more onus on responsible pet ownership with revised legislation, but additional focus should also be placed on dog breeders. There is a large and growing problem with the misuse and mistreatment of dogs across the UK, but simply removing these dogs off the streets is not going to make this problem go away. More needs to be done to stop them falling in to the hands of irresponsible owners; this means tighter breeding restrictions.

In effect, it is the people we need to target and work with - not the dogs. More needs to be done to address the unchecked breeding of dogs and also the ease with which dogs fall into the hands of irresponsible owners. The Mayhew would like to see tighter regulations placed on the trade in pets on the Internet and other forms of media, and priority given to the stricter monitoring of both registered and “backstreet” breeders. In addition, there needs to be more thought given to an effective registration system for dog owners which would embody the principles of responsible pet ownership.

The Mayhew believes each and every local council should invest in designated and trained personnel, such as Animal Welfare Officers and/or Dog Wardens, who can work both with local residents and pet owners to deal with prevent a looming crisis and make our communities safer for animals and people alike. Collaboration across the board between government and non-government bodies, as well as animal welfare organisations, will help to produce more comprehensive and cohesive methods to resolve this issue.

Watch the videos below to hear more of our thoughts about what the government needs to do next:

Dog control legislation: Background

In part one of this two part video interview The Mayhew Animal Home share their views on the dog control legislation including the background behind the legislation and why it needs to change.

Dog control legislation: Recommendations

In the second part The Mayhew Animal Home share their recommendations on the dog control legislation and the changes that need to take place.



Bull breeds

The Mayhew Animal Home discuss the rising popularity of bull breeds amongst youth culture and the problems that have arisen as a result of a lack of care and their negative image in the public and press.

Animal welfare crisis

The Mayhew Animal home discuss the animal welfare crisis in the UK including the overpopulation crisis of certain breeds of dog and a lack of care from pet owners