Food banks dedicated to cats, dogs and other animals have been opened as rising living costs continue to put pressure on people's finances.
The initiative has already supported thousands of pets, meaning they can stay in households that might otherwise have had to take them to a rescue centre.
A poll released in February 2023 revealed one-in-five people were either considering using a local food bank, were actively planning to do so or had already been to one.
And this week, Environment Secretary Therese Coffey called on pet food manufacturers to help customers during the cost-of-living crisis.
Pet owners have faced difficult decisions as a result of the cost-of-living crisis
PA
Speaking to Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster on GB News, Alison Fletcher, the RSPCA’s Pet Food Bank Coordinator, said it was seeing how owners were putting their pets before themselves during the pandemic that motivated her to setup pet food banks.
“We first started since this back in 2020 during Covid, myself and my colleagues were knocking on doors and trying to assist and support people as much as possible.
“We were coming across more and more struggling pet owners who were having to make those really difficult decisions like whether they’re going to have to re-home their pets.
“Really sadly we were coming across lots and lots of people that were choosing to feed pets over themselves. We knew we had to do more, and that’s when we developed this initiative.”
The RSPCA have been running pet food banks since December 2020
RSPCA
The RSPCA have been running pet food banks since December 2020, with their now being more than one hundred located across the country, but the charity warns the service is now more in demand than ever.
Fletcher said: “This is definitely a widespread problem and it affecting many many people.
“There has been a pet boost over the last two years. People just weren’t expecting this to happen to them.”
The coordinator told Eamonn and Isabel pet food banks are as much about the owner as they are about the animal.
RSPCA Pet Food Bnak Coordinator Alison Fletcher told GB News about the pet food bank initiative
GB News
“It’s really important not just for the wellbeing of the animal but for the wellbeing of the owners that we do everything we can to keep them together.
“The way we do that is by working with the food banks because what is really important to get across is that food banks offer amazing vital wraparound support to help people get back on their feet.
“What we do is we provide that animal welfare wraparound support.”
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