If you've been following us for a while, you'll know that for the last 2 years we've been officially partnered with Blue Cross. Everything we do at Anicura is about helping animals, so it only made sense to extend that philosophy and pay it forward - that's why we've been donating 1% of every sale straight to pets in need, totalling a whopping £10,000 so far.
On the 9th of September, we had the amazing opportunity to visit the Blue Cross head office and rehoming centre in Burford, so we packed a bag full of our cat and dog products and left London city to venture into the Oxfordshire countryside. Upon arrival at the Burford centre, we were greeted by Laura who has worked at Blue Cross for over ten years.
Laura started the tour by showing us around the visitor centre and telling us about Blue Cross' long history. Blue Cross was founded in 1897, originally helping working horses on the streets of London. Today, one of Blue Cross' main activities is rehoming dogs, cats, small animals and horses, working with experienced behaviourists to make sure animals are prepared for their future home. Other aspects of their charitable work include education, providing medical help for pets whose owners can't afford it and a grief support service for bereaved pet owners.
We then moved on to see some of the facilities for the animals, starting with the sensory garden where we were introduced to gorgeous Rosie - who was very pregnant! The team had no idea when she was due or what her puppies would look like as she came in as a stray, but she was a super friendly little terrier and really took a liking to our Silvana!
We then moved on to the cat and kitten enclosures, and learnt that there were 27 (!) kittens at this particular rehoming centre. This influx is most likely due to people postponing spaying/neutering their cats over lockdown. We had a quick snuggle with some of the kittens before moving on to the small animal unit, where Laura showed us the cage sizes they recommend for small animals. Most of the cages sold in shops for rabbits, hamsters and other small rodents are totally restrictive and far too small for the animals to live happy lives.
After we saw the small animals, we were able to go into the stables and fields to see the horses in Blue Cross' care. A lot of them had been found wild, roaming in the fields of Wales and other areas in the UK. We saw the equestrian team work with the horses to familiarise them with human contact and many were keen to greet us.
After our tour, we presented Blue Cross with a bag of our products. A staff member from the animal care team was very pleased as she explained she'd used our Gel on her own animals before, and that many of their cats and dogs have skin problems when they come in. We were so happy to be able to help them!
All in all, we had a fantastic day seeing the animals in person and learning more about Blue Cross. What stuck out most to us was how every person there shared a true love and passion for helping these animals, which was super inspirational! We are so proud to keep supporting this amazing charity and just want to say thank you to all our customers who have made this partnership possible!
Remember that 1% of every Anicura sale goes straight to Blue Cross, but please click here to discover other ways in which you can support them!
