It's not just bankers, businesses and ordinary members of the public suffering from the credit crunch. Animals are having a bad time too.

Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, Britain's best-known animal refuge centre located in south London, said today it was at bursting point as some people dumped pets they could no longer afford to keep.

The refuge said it had taken in 6,430 stray dogs so far this year, over a 1,000 more than at the same stage in 2007.

New rules that shifted responsibility for dealing with strays from the police to local authorities was partly to blame but the economic crisis had also played a role, it said.

"The Home believes that the increase has been caused by confusion about where lost dogs are kept because of new legislation and concerns about the credit crunch," it said in a statement.

"We believe that some people are allowing their dogs to go stray because they can't afford to keep them anymore."

The Dogs Trust, a group that promotes the welfare of dogs, produced a list this week of absurd reasons people have given for abandoning their dogs.

One explanation given to staff was "My dog doesn't match the sofa", while another was "My black dog doesn't match the new white carpet, can we swap him for a white dog?"