WHILE many pets will be pampered this Christmas with new toys, chews and balls, spare a thought for those set to spend it at an animal centre.
Despite the well-coined slogan "a dog is for life, not just for Christmas", the number of abandoned or unwanted dogs has become an increasing problem over the past few years.
Carr House Rescue Centre takes in the animals picked up by Hull City Council's dog wardens and the numbers are growing.
At present, there are 28 dogs at the centre, which can only home 30 in total.
The centre has picked out its 12 Strays of Christmas who need to be rehomed with a loving owner.
Volunteer Maureen Fowers is desperate to find new homes for these 12 loveable canines.
She said: "This year the problem of unwanted or abandoned dogs has become a bigger and bigger problem.
"In the five years up until December last year the centre has rehomed 1,584 dogs.
"Every day we get dogs coming in and we just hope we can find homes for them just as quickly."
Ms Fowers said an increasing number of dogs are being sold on online.
She said there is a particular problem "back street breeders" who are particularly selling Staffordshire bull terriers.
"We are finding dogs are being put up for sale in the classifieds and also now on social websites such as Gumtree," she said.
"During the economic crisis, people have been turning to dog breeding to make a quick buck, particularly breeding Staffies.
"But people struggle with dogs as they grow older, needing exercise, training and the vets bills can be expensive.
"We need to stop these back street breeders if we are to address the problem.
"We also have the issue of trends in dog breeds which can cause problems."
The centre does its best to help train the dogs and match them with the right owners.
Ms Fowers said: "When these dogs come off the streets we don't know anything about them.
"We have to assess them but we don't have any children or other pets at the centre so we don't know how they will interact.
"But we will let families take the dogs home for a few hours to see how they get on before signing the paperwork.
"We do all we can to make sure the dogs have a safe and secure home.
"We would encourage people to take in one of our dogs rather than buy a new puppy."
Carr House Rescue Centre is based at East Carr Road, off Saltshouse Road in east Hull.
• For more information, call the centre on 01482 701738.
