Pensioners given cards to ensure care of pets if they fall ill

ELDERLY pet owners are being urged to carry “pet cards” to prevent animals being left alone if they are taken ill.

The wallet-sized card, created by Coop Funeralcare, carries details of who medics can contact if the owner is ill or injured to ensure their animals are looked after.

Bridgette Perks, a Co-op funeral arranger from Doncaster, said she had realised a lot of her clients were worried about what would happen to their pets if ever they did not come home. Rather than direct them to rescue or re-homing centres, Ms Perks started creating pet cards.

Her idea proved to be a success, leading to Co-op Funeralcare rolling them out nationwide.

Ms Perks said: “When speaking to members of the local community, I came to realise that I wasn’t the only one who’d ever considered who would look after my pet if anything ever happened to me. As such, I thought the pet card was the perfect solution to put minds at rest and I’m thrilled that they’re being distributed nationwide.”

Helen Chandler, head of funeral operations at Co-op Funeralcare, said: “We always support our colleagues in any way we can, so when we heard about Bridgette’s great idea there was no doubt that we wanted to roll it out in our funeral homes across the UK.

“The introduction of pet cards will hopefully offer peace of mind to those who need it.”

David Hampson, Co-op’s head of pet insurance, said: “Carrying a pet card is a simple solution to ensure any pet is made aware of if anything were to happen to the owner.

“We want to help customers to take responsibility for their pet’s well-being and this is a great way to ensure your pet will get the care it needs in the case of an emergency.”