Charity launches Leeds pet foodbank after surge in people giving up pets in lockdown

A Leeds charity has launched a pet foodbank after a surge in people giving up their animals in lockdown.
A Leeds charity has launched a pet foodbankA Leeds charity has launched a pet foodbank
A Leeds charity has launched a pet foodbank

Leeds Cat Charity has opened a Pet Food Bank with 25 collection bins across the city in a bid to help keep animals out of rescue centres.

The initiative was launched just under two weeks ago and has seen 25 collection bins being put all over Leeds.

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Leeds Pet Food Bank’s Vanessa Hill said, “Pet Food Poverty is very real, and we want to keep pets in their homes and out of rescues, saving people the stress and upset of possibly losing their pet which in a time of such mental health awareness is so important.”

“It seems that pet food manufacturers are only supplying large charities with donations and the same with the large supermarket chains so there is a huge grey area between rescue support and human food banks which is totally unsupported and desperately needed”

Rehoming charity Dogs Trust said: “Between August 2020 and January 2021, visits to our ‘Giving up your dog’ page increased by 41% compared to the previous six months.

People are giving up their pets for a whole range of reasons including loss of income, loss of home or now working too much.

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The donations being made to Leeds Pet Food Bank are going to members of the community who need help with feeding their pets.

Vanessa added: “In just a week of being up and running we've had LCC wanting support for their 27 community hubs, local community food banks and social services all wanting help, which is amazing but unless we can get support from the food suppliers we simply can't meet demand.”

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