Veterinary and pet care services support
How we help pet owners in our community care for their cats and dogs
If pets are wanted and cared for, we want to help them to remain in their home rather than coming into the rescue centre. To support owners on low incomes, we have a couple of services:
Vet care funding
It is heartbreaking when a member of the public must handover a loved pet to be rehomed because of unexpected vet treatments that they cannot afford.
To try and prevent this, we have a small fund available to owners in receipt of Universal Credit or other means-tested benefits. We can offer £75 towards the initial vet consultation charge and to pay 25% of the vet bill up to a maximum of £200.
In 2025, we assisted 47 local pet owners at a cost of £5,340.73.
Their emergencies included dental treatment, lump removal and entropion surgery to correct an eyelid that turns in or turns out.
Pet food available via food banks
When finances become strained, pet owners may have to choose between feeding themselves or their pet – that shouldn’t be the case.
People give generously at supermarket collections and directly to us, so we are making certain that all donated pet food that isn’t used at our centres is distributed to other charities in our community.
We have a regular partnership to provide cat and dog food to Bath, Keynsham and Somer Valley Foodbank – a Trussell Trust Foodbank run by Genesis Trust. They offer 3-day emergency packages to those finding themselves in need of emergency assistance such as a benefit delay, an unexpected bill or redundancy.
Pet owners in need of this support can also contact Fair Frome Foodbank and Storehouse Foodbank in Trowbridge, who offer similar services for local residents who have been referred to them.
In 2025, we donated 4,443 cat meals and 4,738 dog meals to food banks. 1
“We are meeting more and more people needing to use the foodbank who also have pets to care for, particularly people finding themselves in this situation for the first time.
We know that without the availability of pet food at our centres that many may use the food intended to feed themselves to feed their animals. For some this could prevent them having to make the difficult decision to give up their pet.”
– Grainne Moher, Bath Foodbank Manager for Genesis Trust
Education
To educate pet owners in better welfare, which can prevent many health conditions, we talk about pet health and ownership on our social media channels, and have a free selection of articles on the Pet Care Advice section of our website.
The national picture
Over two-fifths of pet owners say it is more expensive than expected to care for their animals, and nearly all experienced owners think the cost of owning a pet has increased 2.
Average vet prices rose by 63% between 2016 and 2023 3.
Supporting our outreach services
Demand for our outreach services is always high, in 2026 so far we have received 81 requests for financial help 4. We’d love to be able to expand our criteria to support more pet owners but are limited by funding – if you are interested in funding our outreach services, please contact us.
» EMAIL Katie Love, Head of Fundraising and Trading
Are you in need of assistance? » head to our Pet Care Support page.
1 Estimated from weight, we donated 933kg of cat food and 1,418kg of dog food.
In recognition of our work supporting local food banks, in 2025 we received three £600 grants from the RSPCA to buy food for our food bank partners.
2 2025 PDSA Animal Wellbeing Mini Report
3 Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) investigation into vet care
4 Figures correct up to July 2026.