Veterinary charity PDSA has revealed it faces a worsening funding crisis after income has fallen by £3 million per month during the coronavirus pandemic.
This week it launched an urgent appeal for donations so it can continue to care for pets in need.
Since lockdown began the charity has completed 130,000 digital consultations for unwell pets, taken 6,300 essential x-rays and carried out nearly 3,400 emergency pet operations nationwide.
PDSA’s director of veterinary services Richard Hooker said: “For the last century we have provided a lifeline of veterinary care for vulnerable pets and their owners across the UK when they have nowhere else to turn.
“We don’t believe pets should suffer as a result of financial hardship and we are continuing to doing all that we can to both protect the wellbeing of pets in need and preserve the precious bond between pet and owner.”
As a charity that supports people and animals in need, the PDSA says the looming poverty crisis will have an additional long-term impact on its services. In the first two weeks of the pandemic, Universal Credit (UC) claimants increased ten-fold with nearly a million applications made.
For every one million Universal Credit applicants, PDSA anticipates an increase of 40,000 more pet owners will turn to them for support for more than 50,000 pets in need.
PDSA vet Hermione Hillen, who featured on Channel 4’s ‘Britain’s Unsung Heroes’ last night (Thursday 27) said: “Even during a pandemic animals still get sick and injured and I feel incredibly proud that we can carry on working to provide life-saving care for these animals.
“By treating pets, we keep families together. For many, particularly the elderly and isolated, their pet is their only companion. We are needed now more than ever – we’re a lifeline to owners when they have nowhere else to turn.”
More details of the appeal can be found at bit.ly/2ZOWzmu
