SHOCKING new figures from the PDSA have revealed 89,000 dogs never get walked.

According to a recent report carried out by the vet charity, 1.4million dogs don’t get walked each day while 2.1million are left alone for five hours or more on a typical week day.

The findings were revealed in the PDSA's Animal Wellbeing Report and now the charity’s vets are warning that millions of UK pets are suffering from loneliness, chronic stress and obesity.

The PDSA says that owners are failing to meet their pets’ welfare needs, which could be leading to “immense misery”.

PDSA Vet Olivia Anderson-Nathan said: "Pets face another year of long hours spent home alone, with too little exercise. As our busy routines resume after the festive break, we know that millions of dogs will be left for longer than the recommended four hours, leaving them mentally unstimulated and bored. It's no surprise that problem behaviour can develop if they're left home alone for so long.

“Too much time indoors without enough exercise leads to health problems on a much larger scale, such as obesity".

Vets reported that 46 per cent of dogs, 34 per cent of cats and 30 per cent of rabbits that they see in their practice every week are overweight or have obesity.

Studies suggest that around 40 per cent of all UK cats and dogs are overweight or obese, putting pets at risk of weight-related health issues such as diabetes and arthritis.

The report also found that 43 per cent of cats live in a house with more than one cat while 2.1millon are living with another cat or cats that they don’t get on with.

Ms Anderson-Nathan said: “Cats are naturally solitary creatures and, for many, living with other cats can be a source of chronic stress and lead to the onset of problems such as cat fights and behavioural issues like house soiling.

“Cats also don’t have enough ‘resources’ – to live in harmony, each cat in a household should be given their own food and water bowls, toys, beds, scratching posts and litter trays to be happy and stress-free and then there needs to be one spare on top of this. Dot these around the house so each cat can have their own space.”

While 54 per cent of rabbits live alone and 28 per cent of rabbit owners said their pet lives in ‘adequate housing’.

“Too many rabbits live alone, in hutches which are far too small for their needs. They need a spacious hutch or living area to jump about, with a large outdoor run where they can play, hop and stretch,” Ms Anderson-Nathan added.