A Plymouth dog owner who was inspired to launch a food bank service for pets has found there were plenty of animal owners needing a little help because of COVID.
Plymouth businesswoman Jo Butler, who lives in Southway, set up Bramble’s Pet Food Bank 12 months ago to help families who could not afford to feed their pets. Her main goal was to enable families to keep their beloved pets at home.
She named the initiative after her five-year-old pet Cocker Spaniel Bramble and has seen a big demand for help over the last year.
Jo said:
“Bramble means the world to me and has been a great comfort through lockdown. I set up the pet food bank as I know how important our dogs and cats are to us and the thought of anyone having to give up their fur babies as they can not afford to feed them is heart breaking.”
In the last 12 months the community initiative has helped over 220 households, delivered 520 pet food parcels and fed 220 dogs, 334 cats, 45 rabbits, 15 guinea pigs and five birds.
Jo has received great support from local businesses who came forward to act as donations points. They are located at Bella’s Pet Supplies in Peverell, Reads DIY in Higher Compton, Four Greens Community Trust in Whitleigh, Mad about Paws, Chaplins, The Dog Dip in Plympton, The Ark at Western Approach, Leadworks CIC on Rendle Street and Katori Grooming Salons.
A Go Fund Page has also been set up which has raised over £1500 to date and an Amazon Wishlist is in place where people can donate some much-needed food. The Go Fund Me page can be found at gf.me/u/ywbth8 for anyone wishing to make a donation.
Jo said:
”We are totally touched by the amount of local support we have received and very kind donations of pet food over the past 12 months. We are not funded so we rely purely on the donations from locals and businesses.
“It is fantastic to see we have helped so many households in our first year and we are looking to increase the work we do for year two. We are currently looking for more volunteers to help with fundraising, deliveries and marketing support.”
