"THESE animals aren't any different to us. Yes we're a more arrogant species in that we think we're more highly evolved, [but] some will argue the other way," said Neil.

Neil Barker has worked with dogs since he was 11, but now he is assistant operations manager at the Dogs Trust Rehoming Centre outside Salisbury.

The Salisbury branch of the charity which will never put a healthy dog down lies just north on the city.

Read more: Dogs Trust dog of the month: could you rehome Freda?

The Newton Tony site is large, but it is far from the largest, with 49 kennels and 73 dogs in care, according to Dogs Trust.

One of the rescues was Snow, who had to be saved from a hoarding situation where the owner had nearly 200 dogs.

Used to living outside Snow habitually sits on the top a mound in one of the compounds "watching the world go by," according to Neil.

Snow sitting on the compound mound (Image: Charles Elliman) Dog abandonment, as well as pet abandonment as a whole, was a prominent issue to emerge from the COVID pandemic.

To the cynical it seemed as if people wanted to buy-in a companion for the months of lockdown, only for them to be dispensed with once humans were able to go out again.

According to Dogs Trust, the last few years have been some of the busiest on record with the charity receiving more than 45,000 handover requests in 2023.

So far this year, it is still experiencing exceptional demand with over 32,000 requests to date and the Salisbury Rehoming Centre has received 1,365 handover enquiries this year.

Read more: Dogs Trust: meet the Staffys looking for their forever homes

Assistant Operations Manager Neil Barker (Image: Charles Elliman) Neil sat down with the Journal in his office and, perhaps more in keeping with the times, advocated a mental health focussed approach towards human-canine relations.

"It's imperative that you think about how that dog fits into your lifestyle, what you want that dog to be able to achieve and how that fits in with your lifestyle.

"[Dogs Trust] will do the matching part, but we have to be the voice of the dog because, obviously, the dog can't speak for itself," the assistant operations manager said.

A steel statue of a dog outside the main Dogs Trust Rehoming Centre building in Newton Tony (Image: Charles Elliman) Neil painted an intricate tapestry of the causes of dog abandonment and believed the pandemic compounded existing issues, such as ignorance and a lack of education.

Talking about education, Neil took aim at some behaviours ingrained by out-of-date research and celebrities, like Barbara Woodhouse.

"She was known for rolling up a newspaper and smacking a dog on the end of the nose and she would say, 'Sit!'"

"There's this myth out there that dogs need to be show who's boss, who's the pack-leader, who's the alpha." 

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Jazz was not happy to see the Journal (Image: Charles Elliman) More simple issues were chief drivers of abandonment too, such as relationship break-ups and Neil was sympathetic.

"Now they weren't planning that and, usually with the relationship break-up, that usually means that people have to move out of where they're living, probably into rented accommodation and you then have the challenge that a lot of landlords won't allow you to have a pet.

"So we have people in heart-breaking situations where, through no fault of their own, through no fault of the animal, they're in a situation now where they're having to find somewhere to live that won't allow them to have their pet.

"You think about post-Covid and the Cost-of-Living Crisis, well what's the number one reason that relationship's break-up over? Financial strain," the veteran dog handler said.

Concluding the interview the Journal was allowed to wait and witness an adoption, with a dachshund called Moose meeting the McIvers.

The McIvers are experienced dog owners, but this did not stop Dogs Trust from interviewing them to make sure they and Moose were a good fit.

Renate McIver, 76, who recently moved to the UK from South Africa, applied to Dogs Trust with her husband, Ian, 68.

Read more: Dogs Trust's tips on keeping pets calm on Bonfire Night

Ian McIver, 68, Renate McIver, 76 and Nicole Van Acker, 51 (Image: Charles Elliman) Before taking the step to adopt they thought hard about the characteristics of each breed they were interested in, but decided dachshunds were a good fit for their age and lifestyle.

Asked what they would advise people looking for a dog, Renate said: "If they want to adopt a dog, they have to know what the breed is and what the breeds needs are, not just because he's cute, or 'I really do like that one, he looks so sweet.'

"You've gotta know the breed."