Emmy is a gentle, loyal and loving dog, who can be shy with new people before she is ready to play.
"She runs like a gazelle," RSPCA handler Jenny King told AAP, while feeding Emmy kibble in a sun-drenched, grassy enclosure.
"It takes a while for her to play, but when she plays, she plays hardcore."
The staffy has been waiting for a new home at the Orange RSPCA, in central western NSW, since she was surrendered five months ago.
Emmy is one of thousands of pets across the state caught up in an animal rehoming crisis, with council pounds and shelters over capacity and severely underfunded.
A parliamentary inquiry report handed down on Friday found the situation is largely driven by uncontrolled breeding and overpopulation.
The committee made 24 recommendations for reform, including state government funding for large-scale desexing programs and a crackdown on puppy farming.
"As council pounds and the rehoming sector reaches a crisis point, it is the animals who ultimately suffer the most," the inquiry's chair, Animal Justice Party MP Emma Hurst, said in the report.
Cost-of-living pressures are increasingly forcing owners to surrender their pets, the inquiry was told.
"Every week we are seeing members of the public come forward and say, 'We can't afford basic veterinary care due to the cost-of-living crisis'," said Laura Taylor, the head of animal care at Sydney Dogs and Cats Home.
Another factor was the lack of pet-friendly rental accommodation, with tenants having to surrender pets when they move house.
In the final months of 2023, 200 people experiencing homelessness or domestic violence requested RSPCA emergency boarding services.
As a result, the committee recommended introducing legislation to allow tenants to have pets, placing the onus on landlords to apply to the Civil and Administrative Tribunal if they want to refuse an animal.
The inquiry also found the number of animals being euthanised is at unacceptably high levels and conditions at many council pounds were sub-standard due to poor funding.
Regional councils faced particular challenges, such as limited access to onsite vets and animal behaviour specialists.
Surrendered dogs in rural areas are often working breeds, which are harder to rehome.
Other recommendations included a move to restrict the sale of animals only to those from pounds or shelters, along with ongoing grant funding for rescue and rehoming organisations.
The government was also urged to act quickly on recommendations from an earlier puppy farming inquiry, including a cap on the number of female breeding animals a business can have.
Ms Hurst said a constant theme during the hearings was the need for potential pet owners to understand a pet is a life-long commitment.
"Companion animals are not toys, and their lives are not disposable," she said.
"They are cherished and much-loved family members who should be valued for the sentient beings they are."
The government is due to respond by January.
