THE RSPCA fears the coming recession and the impact of “lockdown puppies” will hit already struggling rescue centres hard.

The warning comes as the charity reveals it has dealt with 624 dog incidents this year in Sussex alone.

Animal experts are concerned an impending dog welfare crisis could be on the horizon as families return to normal life and may no longer be able to afford the puppy they bought during lockdown. This is coupled with fears a deepening recession may leave dog owners unable to afford their pets.

Chris Sherwood, RSPCA chief executive, said: “We have seen a rise in people searching for dogs to adopt during lockdown, which is fantastic, but at the same time, there appears to be a rise in people looking to buy puppies.

“We know there are not enough puppies bred in the UK to meet demand and worryingly there appears to be a surge in puppies coming in from outside the UK. The problem is that, although breeders from counties like Romania are licences, we have no way of checking the conditions those animals are being kept in and we fear that sales like these could be fuelling cruel puppy farms as well as exposing puppies to long and stressful journeys.”

During lockdown, internet searches for “puppies near me” increased by 650 per cent to 15,000, compared with 20,000 searches in January. The figures suggest this rise in demand is fuelling a worrying trend in breeding puppies, which could cause suffering to dogs.

Throughout October, the RSPCA is shining a light on animals in its care in need of a new home and promoting the benefits of adopting a rescue animal.

Mr Sherwood said: “We have lots of dogs waiting for forever homes so please do consider getting a rescue dog.

“Puppies from abroad may have been bred in poor conditions, leaving them with potentially serious medical and behavioural problems.”