A CHARITY is urging people to give a pet a home as part of Rehoming Week.

Scotland’s animal welfare charity is currently caring for over 50 pensioner pets across Scotland and is reminding the public of the many benefits of rehoming an older animal, such as a dog, who will require less training and are often more calm than puppies.

Scottish SPCA Chief Executive Kirsteen Campbell said, “We have seen a change in the demographic of the animals that come into our care over the years.”

She added: “We’re now caring for older animals with more complex health conditions.

“Whilst our expert teams are well placed to give these animals the love and care they need, we know that nothing compares to a loving forever home.”

Centre manager Peter Fleming said: “We have lots of animals coming in and out of our centres all the time, but it’s the older ones that can often be the hardest to rehome.

“We find older animals are overlooked but we can certainly assure the public that these pensioner pets still have lots of life left in them!”

Peter added: “Herbert the two to three year old rabbit arrived into our care over 175 days ago. We’ve been desperate to find him a home to spend her golden years but sadly he been overlooked, which we believe may be down to his age.

“Herbert can be shy but he’ll come round if you feed him lots of fruit and veggies, carrots are his favourite!

“We would love to see Herbert find a new home this Rehoming Week.”

Anyone looking to share their rehoming story can do so by tagging #RehomingWeek18.

Anyone concerned about the welfare of an animal should contact the Scottish SPCA animal helpline on 03000 999 999.