Tesco Raises £5k for North Down Pet Rescue Charity

A Tesco superstore located in Springhill Retail Park Bangor has raised £5,000 for a pet rescue charity in North Down.

The charity, Lost and Found Pets North Down Rescue and Rehoming operates a 24/7 Facebook page which reunites owners with their pets and also takes in a small number of stray animals to try and find them new homes.

Tesco Springhill raised the money through its in-store bookstall. Customers bring in their preloved books to be placed in one of the store’s bookcases and when customers want to purchase a book they place a donation for Tesco’s chosen charity.

The partnership between the charity and Tesco Bangor began when store manager Stephen Cowen’s dog, Duke, had been missing for five days in North Down and he was unable to search for his dog due to his wife’s illness.

The pet rescue charity was able to locate Stephen’s dog in five days and was assisted by approx. 800 volunteers over the five days.

Stephen Cowen, Tesco Springhill Store Manager, said

“I’m extremely grateful to the members of Lost and Found Pets North Down, the hundreds of volunteers, and my Tesco colleagues for the time and effort they spent searching for our dog, Duke.

“I wasn’t able to search myself as I was in England tending to my wife who was recovering from a heart transplant at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle Upon Tyne. I could never have expected the scale of this response from the local community and the generosity of all the amazing people who helped search for my black lab.”

“Whilst I was off work, my store team sprang into action and raised £5,000 through our community bookstall. The money was then used to buy some new kit for the charity – a drone with thermal imagining and training for two piolets. A super piece of kit to help the charity in their ongoing effort to recover lost pets and find strays a new home.”

The charity recently purchased a drone which they have named Duke and will be using the donation to put one of its trustees through a thermal imaging drone course which should help the charity find lost pets much faster.

Andrea Mannus, Lost and Found Pets North Down Rescue and Rehoming Trustee said

“From everyone at Lost and Found Pets North Down, we would like to thank the Tesco Springhill team and its customers who helped raise these funds which are vital to keeping the charity running and helping us return and protect pets in the North Down and surrounding areas.”

“The thermal imaging drone course will help us find pets quicker and allow us to work more efficiently during the night, especially in the Autumn and Winter months.”