Animal Friends Pet Insurance has created a new web-based interface to match volunteers with animal rehoming charities, and is donating £100,000 to support their activities.
The insurer is donating £10,000 to 10 different rehoming charities across the country as rising vet bills and the impact of the cost-of-living crisis is increasing the number of pets being abandoned. The RSPCA has reported a 24% increase in abandoned animals during the first seven months of 2022 alone.
Fi Harrison, head of fundraising at Birmingham Dogs Home (BDH) said: “The predicted influx of pandemic puppies became a reality at BDH, as the rescue sector found itself on the front line of pet abandonment.
“We’ve had 80-85 dogs brought to us every month from February to June this year by local authorities, more than double the number of stray dogs for the same period last year. We’ve had to turn dogs away.”
Animal Friends’ new volunteering platform Animal Friends Giving Back is designed to connect people who want to make a difference to animal charities that need their help, enabling members of the public to offer their services to organisations with the need for specific skills, search for a charity or donate goods
Patricia Gardiner, spearhead of charity projects and giving at Animal Friends Pet Insurance, has engaged with a number charity partners to help create the platform.
She said: “The new volunteering platform from Animal Friends aims to provide much-needed support to struggling sanctuaries. With the push on volunteering and advice for people to adopt rather than buy a new pet, the quest to change lives of rescues up and down the country continues.
“These are indeed dark days for the rescue sector, but through illuminating the exceptional work delivered by rescue centres and highlighting ways we can all help to battle the animal welfare crisis affecting this country, a renewed hope could be within reach.”
Animal Friends Insurance has donated over £7 million to more than 650 animal welfare charities and conservancies around the globe since it was founded in 1998. The company offers cover for dogs, cats and horses, including rider insurance, with a range of different policies available, covering over 1 million pets nationwide.
For more information on the company’s new volunteering platform, visit here.
