Our Pet Aid initiative, which supports people who are struggling with the cost of caring for an animal, has seen demand for the service skyrocket due to the continuing cost-of-living crisis.
Through Pet Aid, we provide essential food supplies for animals through a network of food banks across most of Scotland. The charity has also seen calls to their helpline from those struggling with the cost of caring for an animal treble compared to 2021.
Scottish SPCA CEO Kirsteen Campbell said, “We have seen an 18% increase in people citing financial issues – such as paying for food, insurance or vet bills - when they call our animal helpline compared to 2021
“On top of this we have seen a 77% increase in people calling to rehome an animal, an 84% increase in the number of people our animal helpline is giving advice to over the phone and a 24% increase in people assisted directly by a visit from the SSPCA.
“We want to keep people and their pets together. As well as providing vital supplies of pet food to people, we’ll continually evaluate the Pet Aid initiative, work with partners and speak to pet owners to understand what additional help they could benefit from.
“To help combat this increase, the number of foodbanks/community larders working with Pet Aid has doubled in just four months from 16 to 33 and we are aiming to have at least 48 Pet Aid volunteers supporting our work across Scotland by end of December 2023.
“Prevention is in our name and this service truly allows us to prevent suffering by not only providing food to those who need it, but enabling us to support animal welfare on doorsteps and in the heart of communities instead of picking up the pieces after things have gone wrong.”
Pet Aid is currently supporting 33 food banks in 17 local authorities and already has a further 16 foodbanks who are looking to join the initiative. The Society expects this to increase to 100 by the end of 2023.
A full list of foodbanks where Pet Aid is available can be found on the charity’s website here: https://www.scottishspca.org/pet-aid
There is also the option to buy a virtual box online for a cost of £10, which will be filled with pet food and treats and donated to the nearest foodbank.
There have been 150 boxes sold so far with 100 of these being donated by Scotmid.
Donations of food for the Pet Aid service can be dropped in to any of the Scottish SPCA’s animal rescue and rehoming centres daily between 1pm and 4pm. These should be clearly marked as for donation to Pet Aid.
Anyone struggling to care for their pet can call the Society’s animal helpline in strict confidence on 03000 999 999 for help and advice.
