Rising costs are pushing the Scottish SPCA to its limits.

A Scottish animal rescue charity has warned that it is in crisis amid record high running costs. 

The Scottish SPCA has said that the increasing costs of veterinary supplies, food and energy has seen the charity stretched to its limits.

The charity has also warned that there is an added pressure as more pet owners struggle to meet higher household costs, which leads to more demand on the 180-year-old charity’s services. 

A report by STV saw the charity say it is almost at capacity at centres in Aberdeenshire, with everything from dogs to snakes being looked after at present. ]

Gilly Mendes-Ferreira, the director of innovation and strategic relations at the SSPCA, told STV that less people are donating too. 

She added: “We’re in a crisis just now because of the volume of animals that are coming in and what it costs us to look after all those animals.

“There are food costs, some of the animals in our care are on specialist diets so we need to make sure that we get the right food in for them.

“We have maintenance of all of our buildings. We also have horses here on our Aberdeenshire site so again you need to make sure the fields are up to the standard that they need to be.

“It’s now costing us £56,000 per day to run – that’s a 14% increase compared to last year.

“All of our energy contracts are due renewal at the end of the year so that is a big concern for us.”

The charity has said there has been a 35% increase in the number of dogs coming through its doors, with people not going to see a vet soon enough.

Ms Mendes-Ferreira told STV: “If they take their animal in, they have a consultation fee to pay so already you’ve got something you need to pay before any treatment.

“But what we’re trying to get across is that if you leave it, you’re probably going to have more treatment costs to pay on top of that so it’s better to have that consultation at an early stage so that the animal can be treated quicker and hopefully less cost as well.”