Shelter manager Mandy Passmore said Dubbo’s RSPCA has more than 150 cats and dogs in its care and it is barely managing.

“We’ve had to transfer 13 dogs to Sydney just to save lives and make room for more,” Mandy said.

Cats aren’t so fortunate, she said, because many other centres are in the same kitty overload situation.

“There’s a cat problem Australia-wide so we can’t shift them anywhere and most of the time we have to put them down.”

Dogs sometimes receive the same fate if they are dumped at the RSPCA and don’t pass a behavioural assessment, but there are other incidents that are much worse.

“We once had a gentleman who found a litter of mastiff pups in a box along the river that were three days old,” Mandy said.

“We couldn’t keep them alive from a bottle.”

Mandy said people who want to surrender their animals should bring them into the RSPCA office.

“No one will judge you,” she said.

“But if (the pet) is dumped in the overnight box we have no history of the animal.”

Dubbo residents are encouraged to come see what potential pets are on offer.

“We have so many animals and the price is pretty good considering they come vaccinated, microchipped and de-sexed,” said Mandy, who herself has taken home a few animals she became fond of.

“They also come with 30-day pet insurance, which is similar to a human’s life insurance.”