UK's most unwanted dog Mia has been seeking forever home for almost two years

Meet Mia, the Dutch Shepherd who has been seeking her forever home for a record 700 days.

She has been called the country’s after spending almost two years in care. The pooch is one of 118 animals at the charity’s centres which have been waiting more than 100 days for a new home, highlighting a continuing rehoming crisis.

Rescue staff say Mia has a loving, kind and affectionate nature, and the RSPCA hopes her fortunes will soon change, amid its annual Adopt­­ober October drive. Mia, looked after by the , Herts, since November 2022, has just had her fifth birthday.

She spent her early life in a foster home as a puppy. Staff are keen to match her up with a loving, experienced owner a suitable home. The average length of time , cats and rabbits wait before adoption has risen by almost a third over the past five years, to 41.4 days in 2023, according to data from the RSPCA.

READ MORE:

Consequently, many rehoming centres are unable to take in new animals, with many being kept in costly emergency boarding centres. Karen Colman, who leads the RSPCA rehoming team, said: “We are appealing to potential adopters to consider rehoming pets which have spent a particularly long time waiting for their forever home.

“We have so many absolutely wonderful dogs, cats and rabbits who, through absolutely no fault of their own, are sitting at rescue centres. We are especially keen for those people with higher levels of pet-owning experience and patience to step forward and consider adopting one of our more ‘hard to rehome’ animals, because the situation has reached a crisis point.

“Spaces at our rehoming centres are like gold dust. The longer rescue animals remain unadopted, the longer others have to wait for a space. While animals living in our centres are loved and cared for, it’s not the life we want to see for them in the long-term. They all deserve a special home where they can be cherished.”

• Visit the for animals needing adoption.