BOWEN and Collinsville Pet Rescue is pleading for people to adopt pets after a dramatic spike in the number of animals at the shelter.

Shelter coordinator Bronwyn Wicks said there were currently more than 30 animals in urgent need of adoption, including some who had been looking for a home for over a year.

Ms Wicks said the shelter had been engaging in various community outreach programs to find suitable homes for the animals, but numbers kept on rising.

"We're getting lots of texts, emails and phone calls from people wanting to surrender their pets,” she said. "People are still dealing with the fallout of Cyclone Debbie and have had to move house and can't take their pets. But there are a number of contributing factors.”

One of the main factors, according to Ms Wicks, is the ongoing issue of backyard breeding.

She said there were people who were deliberately breeding animals, particularly dogs, with the sole purpose of financial gain.

"People are still trying to make money off animals but they are offloading the ones that don't get sold on to us,” she said.

Ms Wicks said the practice could have damaging impacts and led to increases in strays as well as animal fatalities. She said everyone working in the shelter was in the business of saving animals, and they were looking for suitable people willing to adopt and provide care.

"Owning a pet is very rewarding,” she said. "Not only do they offer companionship, but there is the thought that you've rescued an animal that's come from a substandard place, and that you have saved a life.''

To adopt an animal or to become a volunteer call Bowen and Collinsville Pet Rescue.