10:00, 20 January 2022
Words by Smiley Team, Staff Writer, London
A veterinary social enterprise is hoping to raise £2 million of investment crowdfunding to help grow its services in England and Wales. Animal Trust, which is a community interest company, has launched its new campaign on the Triodos Crowdfunding platform.
Animal Trust’s mission is to make veterinary treatment more affordable and accessible for pet owners earning the Real Living Wage. In line with this, the social enterprise seeks to open sites in areas where the available veterinary services are too expensive for local residents.
It targets locations that are either within, or accessible to, lower earning individuals and families and currently operates across Cheshire, North Wales, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Shropshire and Yorkshire.
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Animal Trust’s priority is the health and care of the animals that they see. As a community interest company, it reinvests the majority of its profits back into the business. This allows the trust to provide more comprehensive veterinary care for pets, while keeping the costs affordable. It provides free consultations for sick and injured animals brought to the surgeries, to ensure that pets are seen as soon as they become ill.
The company’s founder and chief executive is Owen Monie, who first started practising as a vet in 2005 in Cheshire. “Once in practice, I began to notice more and more that some pet owners were being priced out of vet care,” he says. “I felt there was a better way in which vets could balance providing good quality care at affordable and fair prices, and be commercially sustainable.”
A total of 3.2 million households in the UK have acquired a pet since the start of the pandemic and it’s estimated the country now has 17 million pet-owning homes. Faced with this increasing demand, Animal Trust performs an essential service making sure that veterinary services are accessible to pet owners on lower incomes.
“Firstly we reduce the financial barrier of pet ownership, and so open up the possibility of having a pet to more low income households,” says Owen. “We are also working on making our veterinary services more sustainable.
“Additionally, we support the communities around our surgeries - as part the Government’s Kickstart scheme we have worked with 16 to 24 year olds on Universal Credit enabling them to try many different roles within our practices. We’ve found this has given them a range of experiences and the chance to try something they might not have ever thought of. Several have gone on to become permanent employees and to gain lots of new skills.”
So, why should people support?
“Pet ownership shouldn’t just be for the wealthy and every animal deserves access to experienced and professional veterinary care as soon as they become ill. Animal Trust runs its business for pets, customers and staff - and does so as sustainably as possible.”
You can support the Animal Trust by donating, or sharing their crowdfunding page on Triodos.
