Posted: 27th June 2023 | Back to news feed
It is with great privilege to announce that Blue Cross has been chosen to be the Official Charity of the Year for Horse of the Year Show 2023. Blue Cross is a registered animal welfare charity in the United Kingdom. The charity provides specialist care, services and support for pets across the UK, focusing all their efforts on making sure pets enjoy a happy and healthy life. The partnership will host an exciting online collaboration throughout the year culminating in the charity being at Horse of the Year Show in October.
Blue Cross was founded in 1897, beginning their journey on the streets of London. Where a group of animal lovers started to care for working horses, encouraging kindness towards animals. In 1906 Blue Cross opened their first animal hospital in Victoria, London. Never closing its doors to vulnerable pets, supporting injured animals during the first and second world war. In 1948 Blue Cross launched their national children’s dog shows to encourage children to care for their pets teaching the future generation the responsibilities of pet ownership.
1959 welcomed the start of Blue Cross animal hospitals in Grimsby in Lincolnshire, Merton and Hammersmith in London. 1991 the Burford head office was launched caring for small animals, dogs, cats and horses. In 1994 a pet bereavement support service launched to support those coming to terms with the loss of a pet whether through death or separation. In 2014 the first pet care clinic partnership was created with a local vet surgery in Derby, to reach more people who cannot afford private vet fees for their pets.
2016 welcomed a new rehoming and advice centre in Newport where the Blue Cross team offer support and advice to pet owners as well as working to find homeless pets new families, rather than pets staying on site they are fostered while a loving home is found. 2021 pet food banks opened in Sheffield and Manchester to ensure people struggling to feed their pets have help. Most recently, in 2022 the Blue Cross celebrated their 125th anniversary increasing the support network by launching their affordable Behaviour and Training Service.
Iain Heating, Deputy CEO of Blue Cross says: “We are absolutely delighted to be Horse of the Year Show’s Charity of the Year for 2023. Every year we help find hundreds of horse’s new homes through our rehoming services and work with many partners to help educate people about horses and campaign to improve welfare conditions for horses. Blue Cross was originally set up in 1897 to help care for the working horses in London, and though we now help a range of different species, we have continued to support horses ever since, including through two world wars. Last year, in our 125th anniversary, we helped support horses caught up in the tragedy of the Ukraine war. None of this work
would be possible without donations and we are incredibly grateful for any support that we receive each year.”
A representative from Horse of the Year Show said: “We are delighted to be supporting such an honourable charity that is the Blue Cross. Having the opportunity to work closely with a organisation that is so passionate about animal welfare, is fundamental to our support at Horse of the Year Show. The work that goes into the welfare of the animals is so important and we felt that supporting the Blue Cross as a charity that supports horses and other animals would be something which many of our visitors and competitors can relate to and will help to support. We are really excited to be working with the team and to welcome Blue Cross to the show this year.
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