Covid: Fake strays surge post-lockdown sees more dogs put down

The pandemic has led to an "unprecedented" rise in the number of "fake stray" dogs, where new lockdown pet owners pretend their dogs have been abandoned so they can get rid of them.

Rescue workers fear dogs that have genuinely been abandoned are having to be put down because spaces are being taken up by these dogs.

Some owners who pretend their dogs are stray have been found trying to sell them on websites like Gumtree before taking them to a rescue centre.

Centres are at capacity because people who bought dogs in lockdown are now getting rid of them.