The RSPCA fears a dog welfare crisis could come next year after the search term ‘puppies near me’ increased by 650 per cent during lockdown

The organisation said so far this year 452 dog incident calls have been made to its emergency hotline and there are concerns this might increase next year, adding extra pressure on rescue homes.

And there is concern the end of furlough and a deepening recession will hit families hard and some may no longer be able to afford their pets.

SNDogs manager Clare Stephens shares the charity's fear.

She said: “While we have not currently seen dog victims of Covid 19 impulse-buying we are expecting to see some once everyone heads back to work or the phase passes.

“We are hoping that the stringent checks we make before someone adopts a dog will put off people who impulse purchase a dog.”

The RSPCA is urging families to do research and ensure they can commit long-term to a dog before bringing one home.

Along with the rise in people wanting dogs, there are worried it is encouraging puppy farms.

RSPCA chief executive Chris Sherwood explained: “We have seen a rise in people searching for dogs to adopt during lockdown, which is fantastic, but at the same time, there appears to be a rise in people looking to buy puppies.

“We know that there are not enough puppies bred in the UK to meet the demands of those who want to buy them and, worryingly, there appears to be a surge in puppies coming in from outside the UK.

“The problem is, although breeders from countries like Romania are licensed, we have no way of checking the conditions those animals are being kept in and we fear sales like these could be fuelling cruel puppy farms as well as exposing puppies to long and stressful journeys.

“We are all used to being able to buy whatever we want when we want it but we’re urging people to do their research and to make sure they don’t get caught out by people acting illegally or irresponsibly.”