Edinburgh Cat and Dog Home have seen monumental rises in their gas and electricity costs.
An Edinburgh-based animal charity has warned it is facing a “perfect storm” of rising energy bills, as annual costs look set to go up 800 per cent.
The Edinburgh Cat and Dog Home (EDCH) has said it is expecting electricity costs to reach £31,160 while its gas bills sky-rocket to £63,735.
The charity has been leading work on providing support through pet food banks, but is now seeing more owners forced to give up their pets and growing prices from its suppliers "whether it is cat litter or food or veterinary drugs – all of its going up".
Speaking to the Herald, chief executive Lyndsay Fyffe-Jardine said she was “completely floored” by the price rises.
She said: "We'd already calculated it was about £200,000 of just overhead costs we were going to be increasing, but to receive those electricity and gas costs was just crippling.
"This is beyond what we could have or should have expected.
“We will get through the winter, and I'm sure the most of next year, but it's what happens beyond that if we don't stabilise the income that we get."
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex-Cole Hamilton has now called for intervention from Parliament to ensure financial support for the EDCH.
He told the newspaper: “Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home is an absolutely fantastic charity that provides a caring and compassionate environment to animals needing rescue and shelter.
“As the first charity in the country to provide food banks with pet food, it currently feeds 3,000 animals.
“Sadly, the skyrocketing cost of energy bills has pushed the home to the brink of closure, especially when it relies so heavily on gas and electricity to keep its animals warm and well-fed.
“With no financial support in place from either national or local government, the home depends solely on the generosity of its donors.
“That is why I am today tabling a motion to inspire an intervention from MSPs across Parliament, which will save this iconic Edinburgh institution from collapse.
“I want to see the Scottish Government working in partnership with City of Edinburgh Council and animal welfare organisations so that EDCH gets the support it desperately needs.”
The EDCH feeds 3,000 animals each month with their work providing food banks with pet supplies
The charity believes support needs to be provided for charities across the board as the cost-of-living crisis takes a stronger hold.
Ms Fyffe-Jardine said: "There are going to be a lot more organisations to come who are going to experience these challenges.
"I really feel very strongly that we're providing an amazing service, but so many people are doing so many good things and it's really easy for these shock moments to pass by.
"That’s why we wanted to raise it because we think we're raising on behalf of so many other organisations who will also be experiencing these challenges."
