ABANDONED dogs have been given their very own Christmas dinner on Christmas Day at Bolton Destitute Animal Shelter.

HELENA VESTY visited the shelter.

For the past 15 years, the team looking after the shelter’s cats and dogs have been making the most of the festive season, serving up all the trimmings for their fluffy residents.

Chicken, sausages, roast and mashed potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and even vegetables are all piled into the bowls on December 25 — the carrots always prove to be the least popular, however.

The shelter on Northolt Road can trace its history back to 1895 and its work taking in unwanted, lost and stray cats and dogs continues to be as necessary as ever.

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The centre’s staff work all year round including Christmas Day, attempting to reunite lost pets with their owners and rehome other as much as possible.

Just this year, the team have had 178 dogs in need stay at the shelter.

The roster currently stands at 22 dogs and 14 cats.

Karen Rickards has been the manager of the shelter for 29 years.

She warned against buying a new pet during the party season, as people are louder and more energetic than normal.

She said: “It’s sensory overload.

“People still want Christmas animals.

“It’s a shock to them and it’s the last thing they need.

“If you’re genuine and you want that pet, you will wait.”

She also issued a reminder that animals are abandoned not only at Christmas, but all year round.

She said: “People are consistent when it comes to dumping animals.”

Instead of seeing a rise of dogs bought as gifts being abandoned during the festivities, the team at the shelter see the most ‘Christmas puppies’ being brought to them in the Summer months when hormones start to flare.

The manager said: “People are all too quick to give up.

“Christmas puppies come in June and July when the chewing increases because of adolescence.”

One new trend which has made itself apparent in recent years is a marked increase in the number of ‘designer’ dogs being abandoned and brought to the shelter.

She puts it down to a misunderstanding of dogs’ needs, whatever the size.

“Behavioural issues are on the increase.

“People can’t be bothered.

“A lack of socialisation and exercise breeds behavioural issues.

“Small dogs still like to be dogs.

“We still see a lot of dogs not chipped even though its been law for three years.

“There’s no reason they shouldn’t be, it’s so cheap.”

The preference for dogs small enough to carry has also left many bigger dogs and bull breeds without homes.

She said: “People just assume the worst of them.

“They used to be the best family pet you could have asked for and they were so easy to rehome 20 years ago.

“Now, it has to be small and it has to be carried.”