Maybe I’m a bit thick but…..?

Oh, yes - if you mean leaving them on the side of a road, that's very different. My sister adopted a kitten that had been left in a box in a lay-by. Can you imagine someone doing that? It turned out that young as she was she was already pregnant, which may explain it, but will never excuse it.

Absolutely, I agree with letting an animal go to a rescue, in order to be cared for, and rehomed to an appropriate person or family.

It's what I did with my daughters dog, even though I felt absolutely terrible about it.

That is different from abandoning an animal, which is what I meant.

Germanshepherdsmum

I feel so sorry for people who can no longer afford to keep their pets. I would go without food myself in order to look after my girl. I expect many do just that.

It must be a hideous choice to have to make. I don't think it's irresponsible to accept that you simply can't afford to keep a pet and take it to a shelter or charity rather than let it go hungry - it's a very caring and responsible thing to do, and my heart goes out to anyone having to make that choice.

It's hard to believe that we, as a rich country, have come to this.

You’re right, Poshpaws. I’m sure many people simply refuse to accept the real reasons behind the price rises, preferring to call it ‘profiteering’.

This may not be the place for this comment but I use cellulose sponge "Swedish" dishcloths in place of kitchen rolls and wipes for almost everything except wiping the toilets and cleaning up cat messes. I use about 2 jumbo kitchen rolls a year. I wash the sponge cloths in the dishwasher or with a hot temperature laundry wash. If they have gotten really filthy, I wring them out in a little bleach water. When finally going to holes, and they last 2 years on rotation, I compost them. They are an initial investment, although not too expensive in my opinion, but given our previous household consumption of kitchen paper and wipes, I reckon we are saving money. I use microfiber cloths to dry things after cleaning and for things like glass and mirrors. They last a very long time. Just an idea for saving on consumables. Not ready to go back to the Roman sponge on a stick in the loo, though!

Shinamae there's nothing anybody says that's going to shake that burning sense of injustice you have is there?

I'm sorry you're feeling so cross, it must be uncomfortable, but I'm afraid that whether you choose to understand the causes or not, you, like the rest of us, are just going to have to suck it up and make savings where you can.

btw, I second Hetty58 - my cats always scoffed their pilchards like there was no tomorrow.

Shinamae, if you really want to feed fish (not really good for cats) then why not buy pilchards? They're just larger sardines - and much cheaper!

"BTW You can get 16 rolls of excellent loo rolls from Waitrose- own essential range for £6.75.. it lasts for ages. Better than most."

Waitrose also have 24 rolls for £9.50 which is even cheaper! (slightly)

Putin invades Ukraine.
Putin controls virtually all the gas supply to Germany, the largest EU economy through the Gasprom Nordstream 2 pipeline.
He cuts and slows the supply as Germany puts pressure on Putin to desist from warmaking.
Climate change activists are successful in shutting down gas, oil and coal fired power stations.
Result:-
A shortage of gas and a total inability of green power sources to replace fossil fuel power and, therefore,
A scramble for what fuel is available.
The market operates as usual. When a commodity is in short supply the price rises as that of fuel now has. It’s through the roof for the whole of Europe and the rest of the world.
The price of fuel affects production and transport costs.
Prices go up in the shops due to accelerating costs.
Then workers strike for higher wages to pay their increased costs.
This puts costs up further and more people strike for higher pay.
This is now a wage/price inflationary spiral.

Read your history of the 1970’s to see how this works. There are, of course, different and complicating factors in the current crisis.

And that’s why goods are costing more in the shops which, otherwise, operate on small profit margins.

Philippa111

Shinamae

SueLindsey

Just come back from Tescos and the pack of 9 loo rolls that was £3.95 three weeks ago is now £6.20!!!! How can they justify this!!

I think it’s outright profiteering! ?

SueLindsey, I think you should definitely poo-poo Tescos..lol!!

I used to get 6 cans of essential cat food from Waitrose for £2.50. It went up overnight to £4.10!

BTW You can get 16 rolls of excellent loo rolls from Waitrose- own essential range for £6.75.. it lasts for ages. Better than most.

I think we just need to be prepared to shop around a lot more.

Actually I did hear on the radio that Tesco comes out pretty well in overall fair pricing just now.

I shop in many places, depending on the day.

As I don’t drive and Tesco’s is a five minute walk from me that’s where I do my shop….

Shinamae

SueLindsey

Just come back from Tescos and the pack of 9 loo rolls that was £3.95 three weeks ago is now £6.20!!!! How can they justify this!!

I think it’s outright profiteering! ?

SueLindsey, I think you should definitely poo-poo Tescos..lol!!

I used to get 6 cans of essential cat food from Waitrose for £2.50. It went up overnight to £4.10!

BTW You can get 16 rolls of excellent loo rolls from Waitrose- own essential range for £6.75.. it lasts for ages. Better than most.

I think we just need to be prepared to shop around a lot more.

Actually I did hear on the radio that Tesco comes out pretty well in overall fair pricing just now.

I shop in many places, depending on the day.

Trex went up from 90p to £1.50 in Sainsburys…….

I feel so sorry for people who can no longer afford to keep their pets. I would go without food myself in order to look after my girl. I expect many do just that.

Is it already starting?
Honestly, some people are real... well... people.

MissAdventure

I can't help thinking that pets (from irresponsible owners) will be abandoned, if people are struggling to feed themselves.

they already have been MissA

Went to M n S today for a small wholemeal uncut loaf.
2 weeks ago 400g-£0,99p, today 370g-£1-20p.
They can keep it.

I can't help thinking that pets (from irresponsible owners) will be abandoned, if people are struggling to feed themselves.

A tray if 12 cans of Tesco dog meat used to be five pounds but they regularly on offer if two trays for nine pounds. Now they are seven pounds fifty a tray and I can't recall seeing them on special off in recent months. So from four pounds fifty to seven pounds fifty - absolutely mad. Just as well my old dog is loved and cherished and I would get by on toast and beans to feed him.

they only used to do it once a week when the store was closed

I was stood in Tescos yesterday whilst a member of staff was changing price labels in front of me I said oh I should have been bit quicker she replied we are doing this every other day now most things go up by 5p every other day.

Asda has frozen their basics stuff and I've noticed Morrisons has quite a lot of low cost stuff, flavoured cous cous and tinned fish being one of the things I noticed oh and ready cooked rice pouches.

A lot of you seem to be overlooking the fact that whether we are talking about the price of wheat or of electricity, fuel is needed for part of the production of these items, and of everything else we buy.

Goods also have to be tranported and usually foodstuffs have to be processed. We do not after all eat raw grain like hens or pigeons do.

Ukraine has not been able to export last year's grain harvest or sun flour seeds and oil - two other commodities that they basically supply most of the rest of us with.

Most European countries have been importing gas from Russia for years and since February the amount of gas Russia is willing to export and we are willing to import has decreased.

Things will improve from the point of view of the consumer, and to the detriment of the environment with regards to fuel and energy, as various countries are either restarting their nuclear power plants or deferring closing down their coal fired ones.

For the first time in my memory, the farmers in Denmark are not complaining about the harvest: we have had a bumper harvest of wheat, rye and oats - none of which has needed to be dried artificially as there was no rain during the harvest. As the Ukrainian corn is still more-or-less holed up in Odesa and what has got out is principally going to avert famine in Africa and the Carribean, it is to be hoped that Spain's harvest of wheat is as good as ours, You can more or less sell wheat for any price you care to ask right now.

It may seem shameful to do so in these circumstances, but come on - the farmers, millers and corn chandlers are running businesses, not charities. And by making a handsome profit, they will be able to buy goods they need, at the elevated prices these are being sold for and are thereby keeping other people in work.

Yes, it seems unreasonable to have to pay the equivalent of £3,42 for two tins of cod's roe each containing 200 g, so I shan't be buying any more any time soon. As yet, we are not reduced to eating a dry slice of bread, although that may come, but I would frankly rather save on food than on heating.

Basically a shopkeeper selling anything determines the price he asks for it on the following:

The price he bought it for + a percentage of his overheads (running costs of the shop, wages to staff etc.)+ VAT + what his competition is demanding for the same goods.

Having worked this out, he factors in his profit - after all the man has his living to earn, and depending on how brazen he is the size of his profit can vary greatly. Right now, he is probably adding 10% to counteract inflation and only he knows whether this is 10% of the price he paid the supplier of the goods, or 10% of all the factors. If he is a sensible businessman he may decide to undercut the competition, but he will certainly want to clear his overheads.

Gabrielle56

You're literally on the money!! Same here, Warburton bread pre Ukraine? 95p-£1. Post Ukraine? £1.30-£1.50!!! Don't tell me that costs immediately shot up by a whopping 50-60%? Disgraceful profiteering on staples of diet , bread milk spuds cereals etc and always dear - LAMB!!! why? Every fence you look over in UK has a field full of.....Sheep! No transport from afar/rarity/ difficult to breed so why the mahoosively huge price/kg ALWAYS charged on home grown meat? Even NZ lamb is cheaper!!!
(Greed anyone?...)

NZ lamb has always been cheaper. They even buy it in France. Occasionally there will be a delivery of frozen legs to the supermarkets which sell out very quickly. They're probably half the price of the special salt marsh sheep. NZ lamb certainly used to be cheaper than Welsh Mountain Lamb which is so much nice, more delicate and sweet.

There are fewer foreign vets to oversea the slaughter of these animals. British vets don't like doing slaughter house work so Spanish vets used to fill the gaps. Pre Brexit of course.

Ukraine was one of the world's major grain suppliers. Last year's harvest was in store - will there be much of a harvest this year?

Gman

You into business to make money No other reason. The price you set for whatever product you sell to make that money is what the market will stand. Then you either do well or go bust. The consumer is always in charge of the cash flow. Too expensive don't buy iy

Well we have to eat!!