"When I asked if she intended to keep them as pets she ummed and ahhed and said 'probably not'. I couldn't believe she thought I'd give them to her when it was quite clear she planned to eat them." Debbie Connolly, a pet behaviour specialist who runs an animal sanctuary in Wales, claims she has received an increasing number of calls from people looking for pets to fatten up. Last week, she says she heard from a woman about some goats she was trying to rehome who she suspected was more intent on savouring them than saving them.

Last year, the credit crunch was blamed for an increase in the number of people turning to animal rescue centres to give their pets away, but Connolly suggests they are now returning in search of a cheap dinner. The rush towards self-sufficiency, which has seen a surge in sales of chicken coops and vegetable seeds, has also led to a spate of inquiries at her sanctuary.

"More and more people are trying to buy our animals with the intention of selling them on for their meat," she says. "These animals have been brought up as pets, how long will it be before they are literally making a dog's dinner?"

Connolly says people should be careful who they sell their pets too, "particularly rabbits, goats and pigs". Which raises two questions: is there really anything wrong with tucking into animals like these when times are hard, and how bad does the recession have to get before people are tempted to turn Rover into a hot dog or serve up anything à la cat?