Duchess of Cornwall: Adopt a rescue animal and gain a ‘friend for life’
The Duchess of Cornwall on Thursday urged anyone looking for a pet to adopt a rescue dog or a cat, promising they would have a “friend for life”.
The Duchess hosted a reception to celebrate the 160th anniversary of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, of which she is royal patron.
It is where she adopted her own two terriers, Bluebell and Beth, in 2011 and 2012, respectively.
The Duchess was met by a “dog guard of honour” in the walled garden at Clarence House, before meeting Battersea staff, guests, trustees and celebrity ambassadors including Paul O’Grady and Amanda Holden.
At one point, she asked aides to shift the lengthy receiving line into the shade as guests waited to meet her in the sweltering heat.
Dame Jacqueline Wilson, the author, fainted and was attended by medics. She soon recovered and sipped water on a bench under a tree.
The dogs were later treated to bowls of strawberry ice cream, which aides revealed had been the Duchess’s idea. Jude’s Ice Cream for Dogs donates five per cent of the profits to Battersea.
The Duchess appeared in her element, patting and stroking the dogs, which she said were “so sweet”. She was particularly taken by an eight-week-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel called Flora, telling onlookers she would like to smuggle the puppy away in her handbag.
“I can’t imagine she’ll be stuck for a home for very long,” she said.
The Duchess acknowledged how easy it was to visit Battersea and leave with a pet, adding: “I’ve done it twice.”
She said: “There are a lot of dogs and cats now at Battersea that need a home so if I could appeal to everybody listening, all of your friends, that if they want a dog or a cat, go along to Battersea and find a friend for life.”
Amanda Holden wished the Duchess a happy birthday ahead of her 75th birthday on Sunday, but Camilla replied: “I’m not quite there yet.”
Several guests congratulated the Duchess on this week’s edition of Country Life, which she guest edited.
Her terriers, Bluebell and Beth, have a starring role in the magazine as the “Girls in Pearls”.
The dogs were pictured wearing the Duchess’s pearl necklaces for an “amusing twist” on the famous society frontispiece.
One of the guests asked the Duchess if it had been her own idea and whether they were real pearls or fake.
Camilla confirmed it was her own idea and that they were real but laughed: “I whipped them off very quickly.”
The Duchess asked Mr O’Grady how he had managed to get his five dogs to look at the camera for his own portrait in the magazine. “How did they sit so well?” she said. “I was very impressed.”
The Duchess also met Tej Lavani, well-known for his role on Dragons Den, and asked how his Vitabiotics business was going.
One guest, Bill Dobbs, told her that the Royal family did a lot with dogs and horses but not much with cats. The Duchess admitted she did not have a cat, but said her dogs would be good at catching them.
Peter Laurie, chief executive of Battersea, thanked the Duchess for her “kind and generous” support since becoming royal patron in 2017.
Meanwhile, Paul Marvell, director of global programmes, said the cost of living crisis was forcing many pet owners to give them up, adding that he thought the problem would get worse in autumn, when gas and electricity bills go up.
“People are now citing financial pressures as one of the reasons they are rehoming their pets,” he said. “When bills go up people will be more squeezed.”
Mr Marvell said that money problems, combined with lockdown, had seen the numbers of dogs and cats at Battersea nudge towards pre-pandemic levels, adding that they would soon be at capacity.
“A lot of people got pets during lockdown,” he added. “In the case of dogs, they didn’t have much interaction with other dogs and humans.
“There are the inevitable problems with a lack of formal training and social interaction.”
‘We have long waiting lists’
However, he said there had not been a huge influx of pets being abandoned after lockdown, noting that many had changed their working habits, spending more time at home and travelling abroad less.
“It’s hard to predict what’s going to happen,” he said of the immediate future. “There are so many factors but the trajectory is looking like we will have more and more coming in.
“But we have long waiting lists of people wanting to adopt dogs and cats. It’s finding the right home for the right animal.
“We are very quick at rehoming. Dogs are here for four or five weeks at most.”
