Why Are More Homes Struggling to Cope With So Many Animals?

Cases involving large numbers of animals at a single address have increased sharply in recent years. The RSPCA has recorded a 70% rise since 2021, but what’s behind it?

There were so many dogs inside a house near Doncaster that RSPCA officers struggled to count them. Some were huddled in the kitchen, while more than 30 Springer Spaniels crowded the staircase. Others were upstairs in the bedrooms. Altogether, the property contained 84 dogs and two cats.

The officers had entered the house in April 2025 following reports of a dog with an injured leg. What they encountered was far worse than they had anticipated. The smell of urine and faeces was overwhelming, with thick layers of accumulated dirt covering much of the property. Several dogs had painful ear infections and wounds, while 14 of the 46 examined by one vet were found to be emaciated. One Spaniel was suffering from a broken front leg that had gone untreated.

The case reached Barnsley Magistrates’ Court in September, where David Parkes, 61, was convicted of three animal welfare offences. His wife, Delphine, and their adult son, Sam, had admitted the same offences earlier in the year. Sentencing is scheduled for December.

Unfortunately, the scale of this rescue is becoming less unusual. According to the RSPCA, reports involving at least ten animals living at the same property have risen by 70% across England and Wales since 2021. Another case earlier this year involved more than 250 poodle-cross dogs whose owners had become unable to cope. Unlike the Doncaster family, those owners approached the charity for help themselves, and the RSPCA decided against prosecution because of their vulnerability.

So how do people find themselves living with such extraordinary numbers of animals?

The evidence heard in Doncaster suggests the family hadn’t intended to keep anything like 84 dogs. They weren’t operating a large commercial breeding business, according to the court proceedings. Instead, the animals had continued reproducing because none had been neutered. Attempts to give some away had been unsuccessful, and Delphine Parkes told an inspector that the household had been struggling since the pandemic.

Research into animal hoarding suggests that uncontrolled breeding is a common factor in households with unusually large numbers of animals. In other cases, people continue taking in dogs they believe need rescuing, or find themselves struggling to care for animals they previously managed perfectly well. The circumstances can be very different, even when the eventual conditions look similar.

The increase since 2021 raises obvious questions about the effects of the pandemic and the cost of living. The RSPCA has pointed to financial pressures, mental-health difficulties and poor breeding practices as possible contributing factors. But it’s difficult to know whether more households are getting into trouble, whether existing problems have become worse, or whether more incidents are now being reported.

There is also the question of how long a situation like this can continue without anyone outside the household knowing. In Doncaster, it was an injured dog that first brought the property to the RSPCA’s attention. Officers called twice in April, leaving notices asking the family to contact them, but received no reply. Police eventually obtained entry under a warrant, allowing the charity to assess the animals and arrange their removal.

Finding somewhere for so many dogs to go was an operation in itself. Those needing urgent treatment were taken to veterinary practices, while the others were placed in boarding facilities before being assessed and prepared for rehoming. Rescues of this size require enormous resources, particularly when charities are already facing pressure on their available space.

What happens before a household reaches that point is much harder to establish. Some owners may recognise they’re struggling but feel unable to surrender their animals. Others may gradually lose sight of how badly conditions have deteriorated, particularly if they have become isolated from people who might otherwise notice. Understanding those circumstances could offer some insight into why these cases are appearing more frequently.

Of the dogs removed from the Doncaster house, all but one have since been rehomed. One was put to sleep because of ongoing health problems.

Image: Simon Spark/BBC – Cloud and her new family

Cloud was one of the dogs taken in by the RSPCA’s Hull and East Yorkshire branch. She now lives with Morgan Bulman and Luke Shepherd, who believe she may be the Spaniel sitting on the bottom step in the photograph of the crowded staircase. It’s an image many people will have seen in the coverage of the rescue, although Cloud’s new owners can only speculate about whether it’s her.

Her first night in Hull wasn’t particularly restful. Luke remembers that she couldn’t seem to settle, and wondered whether sleeping somewhere quiet and comfortable was entirely unfamiliar to her. She’s gradually found her feet in the household, and Luke and Morgan couldn’t be happier with her.

The same RSPCA branch also cared for Polly, who was just three months old when the dogs were removed. She’s since been adopted by Lisa Marchant and is getting along well with the family’s children and their cat, Joy. Lisa says the urine staining on Polly’s white paws and tail was slow to disappear, even as the young Spaniel began enjoying her new life.

Another of the rescued dogs, Katy, was initially reluctant to leave the patio at her new home. Her owner, Wendy, wondered whether she’d ever walked on grass before.

By the following day, Katy was chasing butterflies around the lawn.