The Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says a record of more than 900 people are on its waiting list to surrender their pets.

It is calling for additional support for animal shelters to help avoid a potential capacity crisis.

DSPCA Head of Education and Media, Gillian Bird, says several factors, including the rising cost of living – and more recently the housing crisis – have left many shelters close to capacity.

“It’s getting more and more difficult … there are more animals coming in and there is less space in kennels,” she told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.

“It’s not just us, it’s going to be shelters across the country,” she added.

The DSPCA says fewer people are coming in to adopt a second dog, while it is also seeing fewer “first-time buyers” looking for their first pet.

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Ms Bird believes the trend is “definitely to do with money” and that people “are scared of the cost”.

She also said that the DSPCA is seeing an increase in the number of people who have to surrender their pets because their landlord will not allow them or they have to move accommodation.

“We’re not at a crisis point yet but could get to the stage where we are if things don’t improve,” she says.

A lot of smaller shelters are also feeling the pressure, including Wicklow Animal Welfare in rural Ballinaclash, which rescues dogs abandoned by breeders and puppy farms.

Fiona Gammell from the volunteer-run organization says the numbers in recent week have been very much on the rise.

“A few weeks ago, we were asked to take 28 dogs in a 16-hour period,” she said.

A lot of the pets were quickly rehomed, Ms Gammell says, but “they kept coming.

“We rehomed 50 dogs in April alone. More than one a day. I got a call yesterday that someone has a litter of 10, we’ve nowhere for them,” she said.

“It’s not even a money problem, it’s a space problem.”

She said that the pandemic was a “big cause”.

“People got dogs to walk them and now don’t want them.”

The head of Wicklow Animal Welfare also says people being evicted from their accommodation is a growing reason why people are having to surrender their pets.

“We’re getting lately people who have dogs but are being evicted and they have nowhere to go with their dogs.

“They can’t find accommodation for themselves, let alone their dog. That’s a problem we haven’t had until this year and last year.”

At the DSCPA, pet fostering is a crucial part of the operation, and they are always looking to recruit more foster parents.

Kayleigh Cumiskey, Head of the Foster Department at DSPCA, says it currently has around 140 animals on foster and this frees up important space at the shelter.

“It’s creating so much more space for us to take in sick and injured animals,” she said.

DSPCA provides all the equipment for pet fosterers and, Ms Cumiskey says, it is particularly suited to people who are at home a fair amount of the time, but that there are also many students on their books as fosterers.

“It isn’t just for people who are at home full-time, and we’re always here to support them,” she says.