Pets At Home launch new pet food donation initiative in North East stores, including the Sunderland branch

A retail chain is giving is aiming to help pet owners and their animal companions through the cost-of-living crisis.
One of the pet food donation points across the North East.One of the pet food donation points across the North East.
One of the pet food donation points across the North East.

Pets at Home is launching new community food donation points in their stores across the North East, including their Sunderland store, to help pet owners with rising prices during the current cost of living crisis.

12 Pets at Home stores across the North East region now have a community collection point for pet food which will be donated to pet owners in need. The local collection point for Sunderland is the store at Hylton Riverside Retail Park.

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The donation points are asking for donations of dog, cat, puppy and kitten food, along with food for small animals such as rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters. These donations will then be collected and distributed by Blue Cross to local food banks.

Lyssa McGowan, Pets at Home chief executive officer, said: “As the UK continues to experience a rapid rise in the cost of living, we know that pet owners will do everything they can to ensure their pets don’t miss out, but we also understand that some owners may be facing difficult choices as their finances become stretched.

“Blue Cross and Pets at Home believe no-one should have to face the difficulty of struggling to feed their beloved pets, and we know that our customers are keen to help out wherever they can. This is why we are joining forces to install pet food donation points across all Pets at Home stores, working together to make sure no pet goes hungry.”

This initiative coincides with Pets at Home’s ongoing partnership with the Blue Cross charity, which has seen Blue Cross receive over £470,000 in donations from through its VIP Lifelines scheme with Pets At Home over the last decade.

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Blue Cross is a UK charity that has been helping sick, injured and homeless pets for 125 years. Each month they help thousands of pets and their owners across the UK through providing vet care, behavioural advice and finding rescue pets a home and loving family.

Chris Burghes, chief executive officer at Blue Cross, said: “Pets are part of the family and we’re really proud to have partnered with Pets at Home on this scheme to have a positive impact on the community.”

The food donation points are to be rolled out to all of the 450 plus Pets at Home stores across the UK by the end of June this year. Pets At Home plan to keep this initiative in place for as long as it is needed to help pet owners and pets across the nation during this ongoing cost of living crisis.

If you are in the Sunderland area and are able to help with the donation initiative, the address for the store is Pets At Home Sunderland, Unit 7 Hylton Riverside Retail Park, Timber Beach Road, SR5 3XG.

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Alternatively, other regional stores also running the initiative are The Pets at Home stores in the North East currently included in the initiative are: Berwick, Cramlington, Darlington, Durham, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Morpeth, Newcastle (Byker,) Newcastle (Kingston Park), North Shields and Teesside.