AN ANIMAL charity in Oxfordshire has launched an appeal to find a new home for one pet every hour by the end of the year.

Blue Cross rehoming centre in Burford helped more than 35,000 pets across the UK last year through its network of animal hospitals and rehoming centres – 900 of them at the Shilton Road centre.

But this year, more pets than ever are facing an uncertain future and the charity has called for help in rehoming one pet every hour until the end of 2015.

Burford centre manager Jenna Martyn said: “More and more pets are arriving at Blue Cross because they have been abandoned or their owners can no longer look after them.

“Last year we helped more than 8,000 pets through our rehoming centres, so this September we are focusing our efforts on spreading the message for pets in need.”

Assistant welfare manager at Burford, Hannah Bryan, said choosing a pet from a centre such as Blue Cross was a really rewarding way of taking on an animal.

She said: “We’ve seen a 44 per cent increase in unwanted and abandoned puppies in the UK in the past five years. That’s a massive increase. Yet people are still breeding them. It’s not fair. There are more of them now facing an uncertain future. Definitely, here at Burford the number of pets being rehomed is going up.”

If the appeal is successful, Blue Cross will record a 25 per cent increase in pets being rehomed, with the ambition being 24 pets getting a new place to live every day until December 31.

Chloe Lomas, from Carterton, who rehomed Yogi the dog from Burford Blue Cross in 2013, said she would “absolutely never look back”.

The 35-year-old mother said: “Yogi was brought into the centre by a member of the public who found him in a box on the Ridgeway in Oxford. Obviously no-one knew much about him but the centre gave us as much information as possible and we have never had any problems. He has been an absolute gem.”

Mrs Lomas said that anyone thinking of getting a pet should not rule-out rehoming. The appeal to rehome one pet every hour is being fronted by former X-Factor contestant and pet lover Stacey Solomon, who is calling on the public to support Blue Cross in its campaign.

People are being encouraged to show their support on social media by sharing a photo of pets and owners giving each other a ‘paw bump’ using the hashtag #suppawt.

Later this month the charity will be launching a new television advert to raise awareness of Blue Cross and encourage viewers to support their work.

Visit bluecross.org.uk to find out more.