PETS at Home is ramping up support for pet owners struggling with the cost of living, with a rallying cry to pet lovers across Merseyside to help them with donations to those in need.  

In response to the continuing rise in the cost of living, the pet care specialist has pledged to double all customer contributions to its pet food bank donation points between Friday 9 and Sunday 11 June 2023.   

The collection points, introduced into all Pets at Home stores across the region over the last 9 months, allow customers to donate dog, cat, puppy, and kitten food, as well as food for small animals including rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters. 

The initiative is managed in partnership with national pet charity Blue Cross, which collects the donations and distributes to local food banks across Merseyside.   

Food bank users have described the donations to date as a “light at the end of the tunnel”. They say this type of support has proved difficult to find but is vital to ensuring they don’t have to part with beloved pets that are often a lifeline for them. 

Single mum, Angela said:- “My animals have been the key to holding me together whilst I have gone through a challenging time, and to know that there is a place that can help, and I don’t have to part with them makes me feel that bit more secure. I would like to say thank you to Blue Cross and Pets at Home for starting this project and helping people like me out.” 

Pets at Home also supports the food bank initiative throughout the year by providing Blue Cross with a monthly supply of vouchers through the Pets at Home Foundation, which supplement customer contributions made in stores.  

The donations from Pets at Home, and other industry partners including Hill’s Pet Nutrition and McFarlane Packaging, have allowed Blue Cross to provide enough pet food to food banks to feed over 1 million pets** since October 2022.  

Lyssa McGowan, chief executive officer at Pets at Home, said:- “Pets at Home believe no-one should have to face the difficulty of struggling to feed their beloved pets and we’re incredibly grateful to customers who have already donated in our stores across Merseyside. With donations points now live in every Pets at Home store in the region, we wanted to boost our customers’ amazing contributions with an extra donation of our own, to do all we can to make sure no pet goes hungry.” 

Chris Burghes, chief executive officer at Blue Cross, said:- “The food banks we support describe the donations from their local Pets at Home stores as an ‘essential lifeline’ and ‘critical assistance’ in a very challenging time. We’re really grateful to Pets at Home and their customers’, as well as our other industry partners, for these generous contributions that ensure we can reach as many pet owners in need as possible and keep families and their companions together.” 

For more information on the Pets at Home donation points, visit:- www.petsathome.com  

For more information on Blue Cross, visit:- www.bluecross.org.uk   

Pets at Home stores in Merseyside include:- 

·         Speke 

·         Prescot 

·         Wallasey 

·         Edge Lane 

·         Aintree 

·         Penny Lane  

·         Southport  

·         St Helens