Dubbo and Wellington have been identified as animal welfare hot spots.

Over 200 animals were vaccinated and microchipped for free during an annual visit from the Animal Welfare League NSW mobile vet truck.

Kristy Forrest, coordinator of Dubbo Regional Council's Dubbo City Animal Shelter, said many people couldn't afford to look after themselves, let alone their pets.

"With the cost of living going up, people are finding it harder to care for their pets ... leaving far more exposure to disease outbreaks, which can happen in any region," Ms Forrest told the Daily Liberal.

In Wellington, 103 animals were seen - 89 dogs and 14 cats - and 39 microchips were performed, along with 79 dog and 12 cat vaccinations.

In Dubbo, 99 animals were seen - 74 dogs and 25 cats - and 38 microchips were performed, as well as 63 dog and 25 cat vaccinations.

"The Animal Welfare League Vet truck is always a great help when visiting Dubbo and Wellington. The more animals we can get vaccinated, microchipped and health-checked in our community, means less diseases and more animals returned to their home," Ms Forrest said.

Mahalia Doolan and her daughter Ella-Grace visited the AWL truck to obtain free vaccinations for their puppy Willow and cat Winnie.

This was the first time the family had made use of the truck's free services and Ms Doolan said they did so because of the cost of living.

Both animals are about four months old and are the first pets the family has owned.

"I had no idea about vaccinations or anything like that with animals," Ms Doolan said.

"[The AWL truck team] were very informal and I learned a lot from them."

She said she would have had to pay around $140 per animal for vaccinations if the AWL hadn't offered them for free.

"That's pretty much why I went," she said.

The Dubbo animal shelter is at full capacity and more people are surrendering their pets because they can't afford to keep them.

Many are also surrendering their pets because they can no longer have them at their rental property.

Ms Forrest from the shelter said it was "concerning" to see the number of cats and dogs that were found roaming and taken to the shelter, but many owners couldn't afford to release them.

"Animals are required to be registered and microchipped before they can leave the shelter, so this increases the cost of release, leading to more pets being left in the shelter," she said.

The shelter is working with "several rescue groups" to place animals in rescue accommodation, and is doing what it can to re-home animals from the shelter.

"We currently have a surrender wait list and are working through this as fast as possible," Ms Forrest said.

The other main reasons animals end up in the shelter are straying and not being microchipped or registered - so it's difficult to find their owner - and backyard breeding meaning un-desexed pets are having unwanted litters.

Ms Forrest appealed to pet-owners to get their pets microchipped and registered, and keep their contact details up-to-date.

This can be done at the Animal Shelter, Council's Customer Experience Centres or Pet Registry (petregistry.nsw.gov.au).

Desexing your pet will minimise unwanted litters.

Collars and tags will help members of the public contact you if your pet goes wandering, and could save it from being taken to the animal shelter.