Giant blue dog bowl in a park filled with balls with a dog inside
Super Bowl - Giant Interactive Ball Pit For Dogs Unveiled In Central London!
1 year ago 
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Today, the UK’s no.1 pet insurer, Petplan, launches ‘The Bowl Pit’ – a giant ball pit in London’s Victoria Park, for dogs and their owners to enjoy as the nation celebrates National Spoil Your Dog Day (Thursday 10th August), representing the joy and happiness our pets experience at mealtimes.
Mimicking a giant food bowl, the Bowl Pit aims to raise awareness of the number of pets across the UK that aren’t able to have happy, healthy, regular mealtimes, after research from Dogs Trust* reveals that one in five dog owners (22 per cent) have had to cut back spending on their pet’s food.
‘The Bowl Pit’, the size of two King-sized beds put together, will allow dogs to play amongst a sea of multicoloured balls, adding an entertaining spin to their usual morning walk through London’s Victoria Park. Whilst pooches play in the Bowl Pit, owners are encouraged to donate to FareShare to support The Pet Food Partnership via the QR codes dotted around the bowl, where donations will go towards helping every pet have a healthy and happy dinner time.
According to research by Dogs Trust* 8 in 10 dog owners (84%) have experienced a rise in the costs associated with looking after their dog, and 77% said they’d seen pet food increase in price.
These changes led to 1 in 3 dog owners saying** that in 2023, they feared their budgets wouldn’t stretch to all their dogs’ needs, and ***more than 1 in 10 (13%) said they either cannot afford, or are struggling to afford the costs of owning a dog in the current climate.
Helping ensure that all pets are given the opportunity of a happy, healthy dinner time, Petplan has joined forces with Dogs Trust, Battersea, Cats Protection, and FareShare, the UK’s largest charity fighting hunger and food waste – to help feed hungry pets in the face of the cost of living crisis. Petplan, the UK’s no.1 pet insurer has funded £100,000 towards The Pet Food Partnership and is now helping raise additional funds to help even more pets in need.
Bella Von Mesterhazy at Petplan said:
“As the UK’s no.1 pet insurer, Petplan has been helping keep the nations pets healthy for over 40 years. We know how important nutrition is for good health which is why we funded £100,000 towards The Pet Food Partnership to help struggling families feed their pets during the Cost of Living crisis and why we are now helping raise additional funds to support this important initiative.
We’re delighted to be teaming up with the UK’s leading animal charities and FareShare to help ensure no pet parent has to choose between feeding themselves and feeding their pet.
We hope that pet parents will take a few moments on National Spoil Your Pet Day to donate to The Pet Food Partnership to help pets less fortunate than their own and make meal times a happy occasion for all pets”
Carl Hawkes, Head of Network Support at FareShare said:
“We’re proud to be part of The Pet Food Partnership, made possible by an incredibly generous donation from Petplan. Their support and the work of these animal welfare charities will help ensure that people most impact by the cost of living crisis won’t have to choose between feeding themselves or their pets, during what is a challenging time for many.”
By working with the UK pet food industry, The Pet Food Partnership has received over 55,896 kilograms of pet food, the equivalent of over 418,991 meals for hungry pets across the UK, who might not otherwise have been fed a proper meal that day. For more information and to donate now, please visit Petplan’s donation page - Every pet deserves a happy meal time | Petplan.
The pet food has been distributed via FareShare’s network of 8,500 charities which help tackle the root causes of poverty, and provide vital wraparound services including homelessness shelters, older people’s lunch clubs, and women’s refuge centres. The pet food will help owners most impacted by the cost of living crisis.
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