Mayhew has been supporting the homeless charity, Crisis, for over 17 years, offering help and advice to homeless people and their dogs.

Christmas can be an incredibly difficult time of year for a homeless person and their dog. Knowing how important they are to each other, we work together with Crisis to make sure they are not separated during the festive period.

Our Animal Welfare Officers and Vet Team are a big part of Crisis at Christmas, where homeless people can receive temporary shelter over the Christmas period – and this year will be no exception. Not just for their owners, Crisis also offers a special service for dogs during this time. The dogs are brought by their owners to a specially built, temporary kennels, where they have their own pen and plenty of comfortable bedding and blankets. The dogs can spend the time being supervised and cared for by Crisis volunteers, while our expert team give them a thorough health check and preventative veterinary care. We also offer advice and assistance to owners on caring for their dog while they also receive help and support from Crisis.

A dog is often a homeless person’s only companion and the added expense of vet and food bills puts an extra burden on people who are already in a vulnerable situation. However, Mayhew’s Animal Welfare Officers offer all homeless dog owners free general health checks and microchipping and also provide light up safety collars with tags and leads, jackets for the dogs in the winter months, dog food, treats, toys and poo bags. Not only do we supply vital items for the animal, we are also there to support and advise the owner too. However difficult the situation may be, we never judge, and are always available to help.

Mayhew’s Head of Animal Welfare, Zoe Edwards, said: “We work with the homeless and their dogs all year round and we are honoured to help and support Crisis at Christmas again this year. We have built a great relationship with Crisis and work closely with their volunteers to make sure that they are trained to handle the homeless guests’ dogs and their needs.”

“In this job you deal with a lot of situations where the owner is going through a hard time and just needs some support and advice to help them with their animal. We strive to help and support vulnerable people in need with their pets – and ultimately keep the owner and animal together.”

Ian Richards, Head of Crisis at Christmas, said: “If our guests know their dog is safe they feel able to access services themselves. We are looking forward to working in partnership with Mayhew to deliver another great year.”

As well as supporting Crisis at Christmas, our Animal Welfare Officers visit 15 homeless centres regularly each year and work tirelessly with several organisations including Thames Reach, Spitalfields Crypt Trust, The Salvation Army, St Mungo’s, and Broadway Homeless Hostel and Drop in Centre, to offer to support and advice to homeless people.

To find out more about our work with the homeless visit here or please consider buying a virtual gift to help us help more homeless people and their animals this Christmas.