A "perfect storm" is brewing for an essential Scottish charity as it faces a staggering 800 per cent rise in energy bills.
The Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home (EDCH), which was one of the first animal rescue charities to launch pet food banks, is expecting electricity costs to reach £31,160 while its gas bills sky-rocket to £63,735.
However, it is also seeing more owners forced to give up their pets and growing prices from its suppliers "whether it is cat litter or food or veterinary drugs – all of its going up".
The energy bill predictions “completely floored” the chief executive Lyndsay Fyffe-Jardine.
While the charity has been preparing for rising costs, the energy estimates went above what was expected.
Ms Fyffe-Jardine said: "We'd already calculated it was about £200,000 of just overhead costs we were going to be increasing, but to receive those electricity and gas costs was just crippling.
"This is beyond what we could have or should have expected.
“We will get through the winter, and I'm sure the most of next year, but it's what happens beyond that if we don't stabilise the income that we get."
READ MORE: Nearly three million Scots worried about energy bills and cost of living
A motion was tabled in Holyrood on Thursday by Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex-Cole Hamilton calling for intervention from Parliament to ensure financial support for the EDCH.
The MSP said: “Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home is an absolutely fantastic charity that provides a caring and compassionate environment to animals needing rescue and shelter. As the first charity in the country to provide food banks with pet food, it currently feeds 3,000 animals.
“Sadly, the skyrocketing cost of energy bills has pushed the home to the brink of closure, especially when it relies so heavily on gas and electricity to keep its animals warm and well-fed. With no financial support in place from either national or local government, the home depends solely on the generosity of its donors.
“That is why I am today tabling a motion to inspire an intervention from MSPs across Parliament, which will save this iconic Edinburgh institution from collapse. I want to see the Scottish Government working in partnership with City of Edinburgh Council and animal welfare organisations so that EDCH gets the support it desperately needs.”
In November, 80 people had approached the charity looking to surrender their pets.
The Herald previously reported warnings that rescues are facing huge rises in Scots giving up their animals due to the cost-of-living crisis.
The EDCH feeds 3,000 animals each month with their work providing food banks with pet supplies - in an effort to stem the tide of owners forced to surrender their pets.
Ms Fyffe-Jardine believes support needs to be provided for charities across the board as the cost-of-living crisis takes a stronger hold.
She said: "There are going to be a lot more organizations to come who are going to experience these challenges.
"I really feel very strongly that we're providing an amazing service, but so many people are doing so many good things and it's really easy for these shock moments to pass by.
"That’s why we wanted to raise it because we think we're raising on behalf of so many other organizations who will also be experiencing these challenges."
The appeal for support for the EDCH has already been met with a strong response and the chief execuitve is "hugely" encouraged by the motion tabled in Scottish Parliament.
"I am blown away by the love and support we've been given from everybody who we've reached out to," she said.
"I felt it was really important that we said this was happening now as opposed to leaving it too late."
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