A woman who rehomes pets has seen a rise in the number of people giving up their animals because they cannot find rented accommodation that will allow them.

Anita Williams, who runs non-profitable organisation Animals in Distress, said she noticed the increase this year.

She said: ’From January 1, we’ve rehomed nine dogs out of 15 dogs offered to us and the six dogs that were because of a lack of accommodation that would allow animals, we’ve managed to find them homes or got them into accommodation for now.’

Ms Williams felt the fact landlords must join a register as part of the The Landlord (Private Housing) Registration Bill 2020, which became legislation last year, was partly to blame.

She said: ’Landlords no longer want to rent out, they’re selling up because they don’t feel like they can cope with the new regulations and they don’t want the stress.

’This is where we’ve noticed an increase in people giving dogs up because they can’t find accommodation.’

Ms Williams explained the extent to which people didn’t want to give up their pets, saying: ’I’ve got a lad living in my friend’s garden shed, like one of these little houses that people put up in the garden, but I’ve just managed to get him a one bedroom flat in Peel.

’I’ve got one lady with two chihuahuas in a cottage but she can only stay there until March and after that she’s got nowhere.

’And the trouble is, it goes down to money as well, a lot of these people who have given their dogs up are cash strapped, mostly due to the situation with Covid.’

The woman from Ramsey appealed to landlords across the island in a social media post.

’The reaction we got to that post on Facebook was absolutely amazing, people saying they’ll add another £500 and they’ll allow their property to be rented out for pets too,’ she said.

She explained that this wasn’t the only reason behind the rise in those giving up their pets.

Ms Williams said: ’It’s the pressure from Covid and the mental stress from having to go back to work that people are easily just handing their dogs over, they can’t deal with it.’

A spokesperson from the Isle of Man Government said: ’Public sector housing providers will allow pets in properties in most cases and do require tenants to complete a pet permission application form.

’In flats, where the noise of pets can affect multiple occupants of a building, dogs and cats are not generally permitted, although each public sector housing provider will assess any application form to keep a pet and will consider the circumstances and requests on a case-by-case basis.’