The PDSA Christmas Advert

 

So here's the PDSA Christmas Advert for 2017. 



The PDSA is an incredible vet charity.  It aims "to care for the pets of people in need by providing free vet services to their sick and injured animals, and promoting pet ownership."   To that end, it has dedicated teams at 51 Pet Hospitals and over 380 Pet Practices and last year, it helped over 470,000 much-loved pets.

Since 1917, the charity has been a lifeline for sick and injured pets.  It's provided an amazing 100 million free treatments to over 20 million pets.  It has criteria for receiving free veterinary care - you can see that criteria here. And it's all thanks to the vision of a woman called Maria Elisabeth Dickin. She was determined to raise both the status of animals in society and the standard of their care.

Five ways you can help the PDSA help pets: 

  1. Sponsor a pet better! You'll receive updates of how the pet is doing and what they're up to, and get PDSA news and success stories and competitions.  From £5 a month.
  2. Recycle your stamps, ink cartridges and foreign coins - click here for more info
  3. Tell people who are thinking of getting a pet about the PDSA's GetPetWise quiz to help them work out which pet would be best for them.
  4. Show young pet lovers how they can get involved, by visiting Pets Corner, fundraising or volunteering.  Dig out more info here
  5. Volunteer for the PDSA in their shops, their offices, hospitals or in their fundraising groups.  Find out more here

Pets and the Elderly - Volunteering to help

Another charity, the Cinnamon Trust, does a great deal to help pets and their elderly owners stay together.  It has a UK wide network of volunteers who will help the elderly with pet care, and also a database of care homes which allow owners to move in with their pets, so that they can stay together.  They also have a national fostering service for pets whose owners face a spell in hospital.  This is really a magical charity, upholding the bond between the elderly and their pets.  They also provide long term care for pets whose owners have died or moved to residential accommodation which will not accept pets.  Click here to go walkies to the Cinnamon Trust. 

SCAS (the Society for Companion Animal Studies) has a lot of information about the animal human-bond, including pets and the elderly. The charity was established in 1979 "to promote the study of human-companion animal interactions and raise awareness of the importance of pets in society".  It provides education (including a course called Introduction to Animal-Assisted Interventions), raises awareness, encourages best practice and influences the devleopment of policies and practices that support the human-companion animal bond. 

Sending everyone a waggy tail!