A large national dog charity has announced that they will stop providing support for London's emergency services because of the rising cost of driving in the capital.

The charity, Dogs on the Street, was set up in 2017 by Michelle Clark after she discovered that many homeless people lacked vet care for their dogs.

Now she says the cost of running two of her vehicles in the capital has made her mobile vet visits "almost impossible".

The charity's custom-made mobile pet vehicles offer free vet care to vulnerable people in London however now have to pay £27.50 a day to drive within London's Congestion Charge zone, when Ultra-Low Emissions Charges are included.

The charity founder has said that these costs may mean that the charity will have to stop its mobile support services after the Christmas period although she still worries that homeless and vulnerable people will not get the life-saving help needed without the care of DOTS.

She expressed how some homeless people even deny their own major operations and treatments if it means leaving their dogs without a safe place

She added: "We could be withdrawing all our services unless we have something to help us. Today we've turned down picking an animal up because the owner has to go into major surgery - we have to say can you bring the cat to us.

"They can't afford it. Now the owner is worried about having their emergency operation."

Furthermore:

"One man wanted to give up on life. So we had to jump in and put him in emergency accommodation...He said "please look after my dog, I can't cope".

"That's at a cost to us. It shouldn't be. What do we do?"

The charity is already pulling back from working in London due to these daily costs.

This comes as a London-wide emergency alert was triggered for homeless services this week when temperatures dropped.

" I'd usually jump in the vehicle with humanitarian and do voluntary outreach run. But that would cost me £27.50. It actually breaks my heart.

"That money could vaccinate two dogs and give flea treatment to another. Now we're losing donations - lots of people cancelling as they're saying "We want to support you, not TfL. If we have two vehicles out it's £50 a day."