Standing up for our pets

Back in Bournemouth, Sophie Vye from Staffie and Stray Rescue tells me about the pressures they face with so many more pets being given up. She explains that they are experiencing roughly 40-50% more pets being given into their care compared to last year, and that is probably tied in with cost-of-living issues. However, they don’t have an endless supply of kennels. “It's a lot of pressure, because you want to help as many as you can, but there is literally no space,” she says. 

“There's always a never ending supply of dogs in need of help. You know, the inbox is full all the time. Phones are full all the time.”

She recommends for someone trying to rehome their pet, to be on multiple waiting lists for different rescues, and then whoever can help first will. They also, as a charity, donate excess food to their charity shop in Wimborne. As well as selling clothes, treats, and toys for half price. 

She says: “We always do our bit for the community as well, and try to make it a bit easier for people if they have dogs.

“I think housing seems to be a big issue as well, in terms of the renting side of things as there doesn’t seem to be many properties that accept animals.” 

Sophie thinks it could help the situation if a group of landlords got together, and shouted about them being pet friendly, so that renters can find a place to live instead of giving up their pets. “It must be hard for people who are struggling financially, having to take a big positive from their life away.

“For someone who’s living on their own, their pet might be the only companion they see all day, and they help to actually get you outside, exercising and getting fresh air.” 

In Stafford, Brigitte Barton, chief executive of the International Society for Animal Professionals (ISAP) sits in front of her laptop with her border collies, Milo and Ollie, and speaks to me through a Zoom call. Her work includes lots of admin, and supporting members of the group, such as specialists and behaviourists. 

She speaks about how the cost-of-living crisis is affecting pet owners hugely. “It’s an avalanche that has rolled towards us, and it’s suffocating animal pet owners,” she says. 

There was a period in her life, she tells me, that she was struggling to feed her pets due to the costs of living in a big, and expensive house. However, when she experienced problems with feeding her dog, she went to her plan B, which is giving her pet scraps of whatever she had eaten. Fortunately, she moved into a smaller house and things went back to normal for her. 

But she illustrates that not feeding a dog properly over a long period of time will lead to stomach problems, as well as behaviour problems and for people who are already struggling, they cannot afford to resolve these issues, and she explains it is a “vicious cycle”. 

Her solution is for local communities to come together and use the power of the internet to support people who cannot afford their pets. She wishes that people would ask for help more on social media. She recalls a time she saw a post on Facebook of a woman saying she couldn’t feed her pet and from this post, she ended up with lots of food bags from her community. 

Brigitte says: “I think communities usually have a soft spot for pets, and you just really need to ask for help.”

Back in Bournemouth, Nicky Crowe is the founder of Dorset Dogs community interest company (CIC), and Merlin's pet food bank across Dorset. Her and her King Charles cavalier spaniel, Merlin, meet me at Harry’s coffee shop in Southbourne, a place she frequents as it is dog-friendly.  

She tells me about their Facebook group: Dog Friendly Dorset and how at the end of 2022 they had lots of posts of people trying to rehome their dogs due to the cost-of-living crisis. This led to the creation of their first pet food bank in 2023. “By providing pet food bags, the demand has increased because now there is a provision, and people are coming out going, I need this support for help, and it will help, and it just takes one thing off their plate,” Nicky says. 

Now they have 12 pet food banks across Dorset and Hampshire, which are mostly run by volunteers. 

Nicky says: “We couldn’t do this without the whole volunteer team behind it, and it’s very heartwarming seeing how it helps people.” 

Through this scheme they have helped roughly 3,500 pets and their Facebook group has seen a lot less posts of people trying to rehome their pets. Dog Friendly Dorset has around 30,000 followers and Nicky feels they are like “a pulse point for the dog owner community”.

She says: “If we didn’t have the community and the social media group, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do.”

Caroline Green is a community liaison officer for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council, and as part of her role works at the Townsend pet food bank in Townsend community centre, in Bournemouth. This pet food bank, since its introduction by Nicky Crowe, is part of their community fridge project where they collect and give out food for free to those in need, without requiring a food bank voucher. 

Townsend community centre offers other projects, such as Tuesday hot breakfasts; craft groups; air fryer classes; and more. 

She tells me they have seen an increase in people accessing the food bank, and that all their work is trying to maintain what people had a few years ago. “I don’t feel like we've moved anywhere forward and I feel like we're just still trying to maintain that level of what's acceptable living,” Caroline says. 

She finds that most people value their beloved pets more than themselves. “We’ve had a lot of tears in here because it’s not just about not being able to feed your pet, it’s so much more than that.

“Most of the people put their animals' needs above their own, and so if their pet is well, it eases their stress levels and they and the animal can be happy hand in hand,” she says.

The pet food banks help many individuals including Teresa Jack-Nunez, and her three adored dogs: Ronnie, and Karma who are Staffordshire bull terriers, and Binksy who is a dachshund and her therapy dog. 

Teresa is impacted by housing benefits being replaced with universal credit, as well as higher costs of living, meaning she is living on less than before, and finding it harder to afford her pets, and so she explains the pet food bank was a “life-changer” for her. 

For Teresa, she wouldn’t be able to give up her pet no matter how much she struggles as she would never forgive herself, and she would always go without food before her dogs did. 

She explains that she experiences depression, and her dogs help to make some of her days better, “They make me happy and smile when I wake up, they are my best friends, they are my everything,” she confides. 

Teresa volunteers at the Townsend Community Centre, and is in charge of the pet food bank there, as well as being a friendly face for those who visit. 

She explains that it is “heart-breaking” to see how many people struggle, she has seen days where there are 30 people waiting at the door before they open, which can be an issue for the food bank as they have to try and spread the food out fairly, and sometimes there aren't enough food donations to do that. 

However, Teresa enjoys seeing how the community comes together in hard times, “When there's a big queue, you'll see people that wouldn't normally interact, interacting with each other, which is really, really nice.

“People are so grateful that they are able to keep their pets because of what Nicky [Crowe] started,” she says. 

Lina S is grateful that she was able to keep her dear cat, Max, during her struggle in the cost-of-living crisis; she feels if she were to go through it again she would have accessed a pet food bank, and thinks this is a good solution for those experiencing financial hardship. 

Nicky Crowe, of Dorset Dogs CIC, agrees. 

“I think everywhere needs pet food banks at the moment,” she says.