Hill’s ‘Feed the Love, Lose the Weight’ campaign launches

 A campaign has been launched to tackle the rise in pet obesity throughout the UK’s national coronavirus lockdowns.

Hill’s Pet Nutrition has created the nationwide campaign to educate owners on feeding habits and nutrition following research from the PDSA Animal Wellbeing Report 2020 identifying obesity as one of the top five welfare issues among UK pets.

Helping owners take control

The campaign, “Feed the Love, Lose the Weight”, has been developed to raise awareness of the negative effects of too many treats, and is placing greater emphasis on helping owners take control of their animal’s nutrition and address the poor feeding habits among many owners, heightened by the pandemic.

Tools and resources aim to help people take control of their pet’s nutrition, including body fat index calculators, educational support, and regular tips and guidance on how to maintain a healthy weight.

Support

The campaign also aims to support veterinary professionals start the often-neglected nutrition and diet conversation, not helped by the current lack of face-to-face interaction due to lockdown restrictions.

Hill’s veterinary affairs manager Michael Unsworth said: “People simply don’t realise there is a problem. Most pet owners do not have the education or the recognition to make these informed decisions themselves, and when it comes to their pets, owners can often have their blinkers on.

”As the animal’s advocate, we are committed to raising awareness of this serious issue and supporting pet parents through that education process.

“Our free resources will also allow vet pros to tackle this issue head on, without having to wait to see the animals in person. This is a growing epidemic that we as a country need to address right now, and this emotive and informative campaign will help drive awareness among owners all over the UK to be more mindful of their pet’s nutrition and eating habits.”

Animated mini-movies

Two animated mini-movies bring the campaign to life, sharing the weight loss journey of Poochini and Moto.

The short films (below) follow two owners who love their pets, but overfeed them with “treat love” and “people food”, and highlights the change in their pets’ quality of life as their weight increases. They also show how a healthy meal plan can support pets to live better lives. Click the link below to view the full article.