Dogs and cats dumped on internet

BRUSSELS - The website 2dehands.be has noticed a two-fold increase in the number of dogs and cats offered for sale on its site at the moment. It seems as if pet owners who see their pet as an obstacle to going on holiday are turning en masse to the internet.

There are usually about 7,000 animals for sale on 2dehands.be; that number has leapt to more than 10,000 now. "Particularly the number of dogs and cats has doubled," says site manager Linda Schaake. "Yesterday we had 2,602 advertisements for dogs, 875 for cats. We've never seen numbers like this before. Many birds, guinea pigs and other pets are also suddenly turning up in large numbers. People often write in the ad that they just don't know what to do with their pet. The animal shelters and kennels are full in mid summer."

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