There’s no denying that there has been a rise in the demand for buying and adopting dogs since the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic first began.
Getting a dog may have even been a thought you’ve had yourself over the last 10 months.
After all, life as we once knew it was flipped on its head, leaving many with more time on their hands than they are usually used to.
And with this unprecedented adjustment to lifestyle, came an influx of enquiries to breeders, rescue / adoption centres, and more, by those keen to welcome a four-legged friend into their lives thanks to the newly-introduced requirement to stay at home, and it even saw Pets4Homes – one of the UK’s largest online pet marketplaces – reveal that a total of 466,601 dogs have been advertised on the site so far, with the average prices also increasing by 131%.
It also found that the demand for puppies was 51% greater than dogs aged one or older between July and September last year.
It’s these very statistics, along with several other factors which will be touched upon, that have lead a number of animal experts to recently issue a warning of an impending “major dog welfare crisis” following this sharp rise in the number of dogs being sold online.
Why is this the case?
Well, many will say it’s inevitable that when there is a recorded rise in the number of people looking to buy or adopt a dog, and then successfully doing so, that there will then be a rise in the number of dogs abandoned as a consequence – and they would be right.
The RSPCA has responded to 5,955 reports about abandoned dogs since the start of the pandemic.
And Rory Cowlam – a vet and ambassador for the RSPCA – sadly told Sky News that he expects to see the number of dogs being abandoned spike even further this year, explaining that: “Abandonments are going to happen because people have got puppies on a whim. They’ve been putting off getting a dog for years and years, they’re suddenly furloughed or they’re at home more, and they think now’s the right time to get a dog.”
Mr Cowlam also added that the rising demand has also led to worrying “increases in puppy theft and, unfortunately, increases in things like puppy farming and irresponsible breeding”.
Dr Samantha Gaines – a dog welfare specialist at the RSPCA – also devastatingly agreed that: “We’ve probably yet to see the worst to come.”
She continued: “We’re now into the third lockdown in England and people still are at home with their puppies that they bought last year, some people will be thinking about getting puppies now. If there is anyone at this moment in time that is thinking about getting a dog or a puppy because they’re at home, we’d urge people to be very very careful and to make sure they do their research.”
Dr Gaines too warned that “now is probably the greatest time ever you’d be caught out by someone”.
Ira Moss – co-founder of the dog welfare, rescue and rehoming charity All Dogs Matter – said that the online market for dogs has become a “lucrative” and “unscrupulous trade” due to a lack of regulations.
She said: “They’re being multi-sold, so one dog can turnover, can transact £5,000 to £10,000 if it’s sold three times. It’s become such a commodity, a dog. At some point, there’s got to be a saturation point – this can’t carry on forever, it’s just not practical.”
Ms Moss added: “It’s just so sad – we’re a nation of dog lovers and we’ve created this monster.”
But what is the current situation here in Greater Manchester when it comes to dog welfare, given all the worrying alerts recently raised?
Has there been a rise in the number of people looking to adopt a dog, and then a rise in subsequent abandonment figures? How are our region’s rescue centres coping amid one of the toughest global challenges in modern history? And have they noticed a shift in public attitudes?
We spoke to Emma Billington, founder and owner of Dogs 4 Rescue – an semi-rural Manchester-based independent dog sanctuary that has developed a unique “cage free” approach to animal welfare to ensure that all dogs are socialised in a healthy, relaxed and happy foster home environment, whilst waiting for their forever families – to get a grasp on the true picture.
Dogs 4 Rescue
“From our perspective, we have seen an enormous rise in the number of people looking for dogs.” Emma said.
“[We’ve had lots of] emails from people desperate to get a dog [and] the type of people have changed as well, it’s not necessarily the people looking to “rescue a dog”, but just people wanting dogs and either turning to the rescue for a cheaper dog ,or some just exhausting all avenues in what appears a desperate attempt to get any dog while they’re off.
“We’ve now got a huge waiting list of suitable homes [though] and we are no longer inundated with the people wanting to get rid of their dogs save for the ones who are really difficult, and therefore reasonably hard to rehome.
“[But this means that] the only dogs we have left are those with the most challenging behaviours needing experienced homes.
She continued: “We have seen the rapid increase in the dog population and know the dogs who are going to be flooding rescues over the next few months are all those who were bought as a response to COVID and when people realise they no longer have time for them.
“Also there is the issue of them having separation anxiety because they have been brought up in an artificial environment where family are at home,
“But in the future, as things change, they will suffer.
“Separation anxiety is one of the hardest things to deal with and trying to find homes for those able to help these dogs is almost impossible at the best of times”.
Dogs 4 Rescue
Dogs 4 Rescue were previously at the forefront of the campaign urging Greater Manchester residents to carefully consider their situation before welcoming a dog into their lives during the first wave of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, insisting that “a dog is for life, not just for lockdown”.
And Emma also joins other experts in expressing her concerns over the rise in usage of the online pet marketplace.
“The only ones who have benefited from all of this is once again the breeders.” Emma continued.
“The demand and people desperate for dogs has ensured suffering on a much bigger scale than we have ever known, and [has also] driven a huge hike in the criminal activity of puppy smuggling [too].”
“The rescue world as we know it has changed for the foreseeable.
“[And] we are currently buying a second site to try and get ready for the fallout of this”.
Emma admits that although it is difficult to deny that the current situation is “rather depressing” as we get underway with a new year, they are still “trying to ensure our moves are to give hope and inspire a different way of doing things”.
And they are doing an absolutely brilliant job.
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To help Dogs 4 Rescue continue its essential work across Greater Manchester, please consider donating whatever you can via the website, and for large donations or offers of corporate support, you email Emma Billington at [email protected] or ring 07412361769.
You can also keep up to date with Dogs 4 Rescue day-to-day on social media – Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Feature
Five Manchester artists we’ve been listening to this month | June 2025
Danny Jones
Hello there. That greeting may be giving Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars vibes, and we can’t lie, we have listened to some cantina music while working this month… but not as much as we’ve been immersing ourselves in more new Manchester artists.
You should know the drill by now, and it is very much a what-it-says-on-the-tin scenario, but every few weeks, we round up some of the music – all crucially hailing from the Greater Manchester area – that we’ve been listening to of late.
We don’t discriminate when it comes to genre either. There’s only one simple rule: if it’s good, then we listen to it and then, hopefully, so do you.
Get your playlists at the ready.
Five Manc music artists we’ve been listening to recently
1. Arkayla
First up for June are relative newcomers Arkayla, whose name is inspired by “a terrible Oasis demo” from 1991 (their words, not ours – thought it is…) of the same name, a.k.a. ‘I Will Show You’, in which describe Liam Gallagher’s now legendary as once sounding “like a dodgy Ian Brown impressionist.”
However, there’s nothing dodgy about these lot and, thankfully, they’re in an era when you don’t have to hand out tapes recorded in the Boardwalk basement on the street to be heard. The Manchester band, which only formed in 2020, may be Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, but they’ve already got a sound.
There’s an unmistakable British indie element to them and hints at everything from The Kooks to The Lathums, but most notably, there are ’60s guitar notes and some real maturity already. Standouts include ‘Ella Malone’, the acoustic version of ‘Lost In a Valentine’, where the lead singer, Cal Blakebrough, really shines, and ‘Rita’ is such an addictive track.
They don’t get more unknown, undiscovered, but sure to be up-and-coming than iNNAFIELD, who are a female-fronted psychedelia-forward five-piece with roots in Brighton but building a career in 0161. Having recently shone at The Deaf Institute playing a support slot at Academy 1, they have our interest.
If a glimpse of lead singer Jessie Amy Leask’s curly hair, 70s belts and long, flowing skirts plants Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac in your mind, you’d be right in thinking so; a listen to their other live tracks scattered across their socials confirms there’s plenty of other influences going on too, though.
Now, they’ve only got one proper recording out on Spotify called ‘Tell Me What’s On Your Mind’, but we’ve had it popping up on our algorithms everywhere, and we can see why: there’s soft, twinkly strumming, soft almost sleepy vocals before a nice big breakout at the end. Glorious stuff.
No, not that one, the Princess of Monaco isn’t back from the dead, but ‘r Grace Kelly, who is based right here in Greater Manchester, is playing her part in the ongoing country revival taking place across the music world, offering her soulful voice and faux American-folk vibes to our ears.
She may not be a Mancunian by birth, having moved from New Zealand to our shores back in 2022, and although the weather change might have been a big sea change for her, there’s no culture shock to be found in her style; from the audio to the aesthetic, it still somehow feels pretty authentic.
Uplifting acoustic guitars, drum brush strokes, solos, Southern-twang harmonies – you name it, all the ingredients are there. The thing is, if you spend enough time immersing yourself in a genre, you can still pull off tracks like ‘Carry On’, ‘San Jose’ and the intimate ‘For Us To Change’.
We’re really lane switching when it comes to genre this month; maybe it’s because festival season is in full swing and we’re just being exposed to so much different stuff in a short space of time, all we know is we’re not complaining about it.
And neither should you, especially when you’ve got names like hip-hop, grime, soul and flag-flying Afrobeats rising star, Prido, being platformed. Blending all the above with R’n’B and a sprinkling of not just Northern but easily detectable Manc slant, it makes his music stand out in the ever-thriving space.
‘Free Ur Mind’ was the first track we ever heard, so we’ve struggled to shake that as our favourite, but ‘DND’ is a supremely dancey but chill example of laid-back of the genre that you need in your mixes this summer, and we also have a soft spot for his verse on the sensual ‘Lifeboat’ by Prima.
Last but not least on our list of new Manchester artists for this June, we’ve got local DJ Josh Baker, whose name you might recognise from the headlines surrounding Parklife 2025, as his set was unfortunately cancelled due to problems out of his control.
Festival-goers flocked to The Matinee Stage for a highly anticipated back-to-back bill of Baker followed by Dutch counterpart Chris Stussy, both of whom have thrilled some of the biggest club crowds in the country – sadly, he didn’t get to do so this time. That being said, we thought we’d give him a shout-out.
We’ll confess to only having got around to his discography following this news, but ‘Back It Up’, ‘Something To Me’, and ‘You Don’t Own Me’ with Prospa and RAHH are all bangers. We’re looking forward to listening to more.
And that should just about do you; there are five artists and, at the very least, 15 new tracks for you to give a go – there should be at least of few of them you like.
But, let’s be honest: be it unheard, new, current, old or anything in between, Manchester music very rarely ends up being filed in the skippable category.
Then again, you can always check out last month’s list of Manc artists from last month and see if you get a better hit ratio.
Featured Images — Prido (via Facebook)/Arkayla (via X)/Grace Kelly (via Facebook)
Feature
You can sleep in a luxury train carriage at an old railway station in Greater Manchester
Thomas Melia
There’s an Airbnb listing in Delph where you can stay in a classic converted train carriage, and it’s even situated in an old train station, so someone buy my ticket ASAP.
Get ready to have the best train experience of your life, as the only cancellation you have to worry about is booking the day off work.
The Carriage at The Old Station is a two-person character property in Delph, Saddleworth that offers you the chance to live out your vintage fantasy by stepping back in time on a luxury static train coach.
It may be situated at an old station, but the interior is refreshing and light with mint blue beams, fuchsia cushions and a royal red carpet and curtains.
As well as a majestic interior, this carriage has an equally impressive amount of amenities, including a Bluetooth sound system, board games and its own indoor fireplace.
This Airbnb is fairly new too, with only 44 reviews to its name – the first only dating back to September of last year; don’t say we don’t find you some absolute gems.
Inside the Airbnb that’s an old converted train carriage.The interior of this Airbnb listing is bold and impressive.
One user even stated, “We regularly stay in five-star locations and this surpassed five-star easily! We highly recommend a stay here.”
While another opened her review with three simple adjectives that we also feel perfectly sum up this train carriage property perfectly: “Opulent, indulgent, extravagant”.
It should come as no surprise that this place is beautiful inside and out, as in the description, host of the property Nigel states he’s a retired designer.
The train carriage stay is also close to a proper country pub, The Old Bell Inn, as well as the Diggle canal walk if you fancy a stroll and a pint before tucking into bed in your old train carriage for the night.
Even the bathroom has pops of colour throughout.You could stay in this train carriage at an old train station.
If you’re after boarding The Carriage at The Old Station and having a fabulous overnight stay or mini holiday of your own, you can find the Airbnb listing and everything you need to know HERE.
Emily Sergeant -
27th January 2021 
