Dorset Dogs CIC and Merlin's Pet Food Bank

Nicky Crowe holding her dog, Merlin. (Sourced by Daisy Pearce)

Dorset Dogs CIC originated as a Facebook group called Dog Friendly Dorset back in 2017, founded by animal behaviourist Nicky Crowe. She set up Merlin's Pet Food Bank back in early 2023 once she noticed people were using human food banks for their pets instead of themselves.

Nicky relies on members of the community to help keep this service going, as it is run by volunteers. They collect pet food donations and drop them off at places where animal owners can pick it up if they are in need. No voucher is required to claim the food.

The 12 locations are as follows:

• Nourish Church, Blandford

• Feed our Community, Boscombe

• Townsend Community Fridge, Bournemouth

• Dorchester Baptist Church, Dorchester

• Canford Heath Community Fridge, Poole

• Moor Community Food, Poole

• Bourne Community Food, Poole

• Parkstone St Clements Church, Poole

• Portland Community Fridge, Portland

• West Howe Community Fridge, West Howe

• Castleman Community Larder, West Moors

• Weymouth Baptist Church, Weymouth

I met Nicky at Harry's in Southbourne, a café that she frequents as they are dog friendly. She tells me about how the pet food bank has grown since it begun, and that more people are accessing it due to its availability. We discuss the cost-of-living-crisis and the challenges pet owners are facing, not just pet expenses but energy bills and other living costs. She explains that being able to help take one thing off their plate, like pet food costs, eases the pressure on them.

Due to the Facebook group's reach - almost 30,000 members - Nicky is able to see how the pet food bank is helping people. She tells me how back in 2022 they would see lots of posts of people on the group trying to rehome their pets, whereas in the past year they have seen no posts of those trying to rehome an animal.

You can reads more about Dorset Dogs CIC and Merlin's Pet Food Bank on the 19th December via this link: https://daisymjournalism.wixsite.com/compassionincrisis/feature

Visit Dorset Dogs CIC here: https://dorsetdogs.com/