A mum has set up a new foodbank so dog owners can feed their pets while coping with the rising cost of living crisis.
Mel Oldfield, an intensive care nurse from Hawarden, North Wales, decided to begin the venture after hearing so many harrowing stories of rescue centres becoming overflowed. It comes after reports of pet abandonment were on the increase due to many owners being unable to afford to feed their pets.
The 48-year-old will provide free dog meat and dry food for all hungry canines later this month. Posting on Facebook, Mel spoke about how she is already getting requests before the venture has officially started, North Wales Live reports
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She wrote: "Within 48 hours of starting a Facebook site, I was contacted by two owners who were desperate. They were literally on the verge of having to give up their dogs.
"Although I’m still setting everything up, I was able to supply each of them with two weeks' worth of feed. It will enable them to keep their dogs for the time being.”
The Pets Eat Today (PET) foodbank will be located in an outhouse behind a pub in Mancot and will open twice a week between 1pm to 2pm on Tuesday and Thursdays from August 23. The RSPCA reported a 30 per cent increase in pet abandonments last winter following the pandemic.
Despite this, the charity expects the figures will only increase exponentially in the coming winter as families struggle to pay utility bills and buy groceries. The RSPCA also revealed a shocking rise in people needing help with vet bills while many others are attempting to treat their ill pets at home.
In fact, in the year to January 2022, monthly Google searches for "Can I give my dog paracetamol" soared 260 per cent to 14,600. In the wake of Mel's new foodbank, Wirral-based Jackson's Animal Rescue spoke about its importance on Facebook.
It wrote: "We are getting so many phone calls about people wanting to rehome as they cannot afford to feed their pets, this breaks our hearts because we know how tough it is right now. We even have cats and kittens in that people have “found” – but we know full well they owned them and just didn’t want to tell us.
"Please don’t dump them, please seek help.”
Mel added how one particular dog - Ronnie the Labrador - influenced her decision to start the PET foodbank. She said: "For years my husband had begged me to get a dog but I was too busy and wasn’t interested.
"Last year I relented and it’s had a profound impact on me. It’s been completely overwhelming, like a missing piece of my life has slotted into place.
"They say cats and dogs are like therapy and it’s true: with things being so difficult at the moment, with Covid and now rising prices, they are a great way of helping people to cope.”
When Mel began researching her initial idea, she discovered that there were very few pet foodbanks in the country, noting there was only one in Wirral and the next nearest being located in Manchester and Cardiff. To help name her new foodbank, she received help from the 1st Saltney Scout Group.
Parents at her children's school also extended a helping hand by including the landlords of the White Bear pub who quickly offered space from an unused building. Collection points have also been set up in the surrounding area and Mel hopes to get supermarkets and high street retailers invovled as well.
“Last year I relented and it’s had a profound impact on me.
“It’s been completely overwhelming, like a missing piece of my life has slotted into place. They say cats and dogs are like therapy and it’s true: with things being so difficult at the moment, with Covid and now rising prices, they are a great way of helping people to cope.”
Mel also hopes to enlist volunteer drivers to help with collecting donated food. “I don’t want to start delivering food,” she said.
“But, realistically, it will probably need to happen, so I’d be delighted to hear from volunteers.”
Mel added that she'll gladly take donations of opened bags of biscuits and kibble, stating "nothing will go to waste". She added: "“If any is left over, it will go to rescue centres.
"I’m also looking into how homeless people are able to feed their dogs. They probably need a hand too!”
To contact Mel, email petfoodbankdeeside@gmail.com or call 07944 101264. For updates, visit the Facebook page PET Foodbank Deeside
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