“It’s totally heartbreaking and I feel the need to really do something.”

Nicky worked as an animal behaviourist in Manchester before moving to Bournemouth and creating the Facebook group Dog Friendly Dorset in 2017. She had a puppy and wanted to socialise in her new town. The group generated new relationships for her. “Every Saturday, I’d meet with a member, my puppy and her springer spaniel, and she is now one of my best friends,” she says. Coming from humble beginnings, Dorset Dogs was made an official non-profit CIC in October of last year. 

I met Nicky at Cafe Riva, one of the drop-off locations for the Pet Food Bank. It’s a cafe in Southbourne located at the end of Fisherman’s Walk, overlooking the sea. She brought Merlin, her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, alongside the inspirational story of how she set up this original service for people struggling to feed their pets. 

She said: “I was always looking for the pulse point in the community for ways we can help humans and dogs. I noticed an influx of pets being rehomed and so I reached out to shelters to understand the issue.”

Nicky tells me the heart of the issue is the Cost-of-Living-Crisis. According to the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes, 92% of shelters have seen an increase of owners wanting to give up their dog in comparison to pre-pandemic rates. This has affected her emotionally as she said: “Having to give up your animal is just the worst of the worst, it’s totally heartbreaking and I feel the injustice and the need to really do something.”

When this idea started out, she wanted it to be for all pets rather than just dogs and wanted it to be accessible. “For food banks, you have to go through hoops to get there, we wanted the Pet Food Bank to be open access for everyone with no stigma.”

Other food banks have also noticed this stigma, Sarah Lyon the deputy manager at Christchurch Food Bank+ said: “There are always some people who feel a bit embarrassed about coming in, especially if it’s their first time using it.”

Setting up the Pet Food Bank

Canford Heath was the first food bank they set up. They launched it as a trial to see if there was a need, and Nicky found there was a “massive need”. “We’ve gone from one to seven food banks since January; it’s gone crazy and expanded so much,” she says. 

To start this project, Nicky put a message out to Dog Friendly Dorset Facebook group, asking for people to donate pet food and she found “our community is so generous we’ve got surplus food.”  

She already had relationships with businesses she had worked at, such as cafes, so “asking for donation points was easy and I support them back by putting their name on our group.” Dog Friendly Dorset has 18,700 members and a reach of 220,000 so Nicky explains it’s “an exchange for these businesses to help bring more awareness to them.” 

A member of the group made and sold handmade boxes to Dorset Dogs for pet food donations to be put in. Nicky tells me she is restructuring the way they collect these donations, where a volunteer will give a day every two weeks, and they will collect and deliver to the businesses’ closest food bank. 

Most of the pet food banks are part of community fridges - a space where they give out and stop fresh food from being wasted. She said: “We set up a pet food bank alongside their human ones.” 

Boscombe Pet Food Bank is the closest to Cafe Riva. It works alongside their Feeding Our Community’s community fridge. Georgina Godfrey works in their hub and does “social media bits ‘n’ bobs,” she said: “I can tell you it’s so popular already. I love it when people bring their dogs by so it mixes up the days.”

Emotional support 

Not only do these food banks help anyone struggling to feed their pets, but also help “people’s need for emotional support.” Organisers say that when people come in to collect food, they could possibly feel embarrassed, however, Nicky has noticed the change in people’s mindsets when they bring along their pet. “It gives them a spring in their step to show off their dog and helps to connect us to each other with love and common ground. We weren’t expecting that and it was a really lovely realisation.”

Nicky works from home on a laptop and often does 12-hour days. She never has a day off as it’s an online platform and she “answers every single post that comes onto our group.” According to Lenstore’s 2022 Screentime Study, 83% out of 2,000 UK residents have experienced eye strain from staring at a screen. Nicky was affected by this as she had to get a laser operation to correct her vision, “otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to continue.” This effect on someone’s health could cause them to give up, but Nicky did not, she tells me: “Anyone not as passionate as me would’ve stopped.”

Dorset Dogs fundraises for the Pet Food Bank through events such as a Summer fete being organised for this year and Dorset Dogs Day on the 8th of May last year. With her background in animal behaviour, Nicky prioritises dogs’ enrichment with activities such as a scent work zone. One highlight Nicky had from last year's event was the ‘Doodle Dash’ where owners threw a sausage and their Doodle dogs had to bring it back. Nicky tells me: “The funniest aspect was how seriously the humans took it; There was zero chance their dog would come back with a sausage, it made me laugh and laugh and it was chaos as Doodles run in such a fluid way.”

The “injustice” of people having to give up their pets is heartbreaking for Nicky as she says: “Humans have been using the human food bank to feed their pets. Pets are a lifeline for many people and I want the government to understand and raise its importance.”

By Daisy Pearce