Did you know that Burgess Pet Care leads annual campaigns to raise awareness of better care for pet animals? The season of goodwill is the perfect time to take a look at the positive impact these important campaigns are having…
Expert approved
Dr Suzanne Moyes MVB, MRCVS
18th December 2025
The health, happiness and wellbeing of pet animals is what drives everything we do at Burgess Pet Care. It’s the reason why we run awareness weeks for popular small pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs, shine a light on Greyhounds and Lurchers in need of loving new homes, and champion rescue dogs of all varieties!
As another year comes to a close, it’s a good time to take stock of what’s been achieved, thanks to our customers, pet animal professionals and rescue centre volunteers across the country who love pets as much as we do.
Raising a voice for rabbits
Realising that pet rabbits are often misunderstood animals, back in 2006, Burgess launched the first Rabbit Awareness Week (RAW). Collaborating with leading animal charities and veterinary bodies, this annual campaign serves to educate rabbit owners about the best ways to care for their pets and continually improve rabbit welfare.
The 2025 campaign focused on Happy, Hoppy Homes, emphasising the importance of providing the right environment for indoor and outdoor rabbits to enable them to express their natural bunny behaviours.
Research from a recent PDSA Animal Wellbeing (PAW) Report – the largest and most comprehensive report on the UK’s pets – has shown that Rabbit Awareness Week has had a profound, positive impact on the lives and welfare of pet rabbits in the UK.
Key findings include that fewer rabbits are fed muesli as one of their main food types, fewer rabbits are being fed less than the recommended amount of hay, and there has been a significant decrease in the number of rabbits living alone.
PDSA Vet Nurse Nina Downing says: “By educating new and established owners about suitable diets, companionship, housing, preventive treatments and the importance of companionship, the UK’s rabbits’ five welfare needs are improving.”
Burgess in-house vet, Dr Suzanne Moyes MVB MRCVS, adds: “It’s often the case that rabbits are suffering not through neglect but through a lack of understanding among their owners, which is why campaigns like RAW continue to be vitally important, helping the UK’s rabbits to lead happy and healthy lives.”
* Rabbit Awareness Week will return in 2026 to continue its mission to improve the health and happiness of our beloved buns! *
Putting guinea pig welfare in the spotlight
Building on the success of RAW, in 2021 Burgess launched the first Guinea Pig Awareness Week (GPAW), endorsed by the British Veterinary Association and the British Small Animal Veterinary Association.
Despite being one of the UK’s most popular small pets, some of the health and welfare needs of guinea pigs can be overlooked or misunderstood. GPAW recognises the importance of providing essential care to support the wellbeing of the nation’s guinea pigs and is the UK’s largest campaign dedicated to improving guinea pig welfare.
For 2025, the campaign focused on Comfort, Care, Companionship, highlighting the importance of reducing stress in guinea pigs by providing them with the right environment to help them live long, healthy lives.
This year also saw another exciting development as Burgess Pet Care launched Guinea Pig Welfare UK (GPW UK) – the first national guinea pig charity focusing on education, research and advocacy to advance the health and welfare of all guinea pigs in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Dr Suzanne Moyes says: “Guinea Pig Awareness Week has grown from strength to strength each year and is a much-needed opportunity to support guinea pig owners in better understanding their pets. Guinea pigs have complex needs and are as vulnerable to stress as any other animal. We want to help with spotting the signs of stress and creating the ideal environment for them.”
* Guinea Pig Awareness Week will be back in 2026 to continue to improve the welfare and wellbeing of these super, squeaky companion animals! *
Highlighting rescued Greyhounds and Lurchers in need
Burgess ran its first Greyhound & Lurcher 2 Week Takeover campaign in 2019. Along with sharing details of the amazing work of rescue charities, this annual campaign also raises awareness of rescue hounds needing happy forever homes and donates thousands of pounds worth of Burgess Supadog Greyhound & Lurcher food.
In 2025, an incredible £27,000 worth of Greyhound & Lurcher food – the biggest donation of food in the campaign’s history – was delivered by members of the Burgess team to hardworking rescue charities across the UK.
Kay FitzGerald-Gorham of Lurcher Link, one of the annual campaign’s winning rescue centres, says: “Because of the generous donation of Greyhound & Lurcher food we received from Burgess, we've been able to allocate more of our funds to saving dogs who might otherwise have been put to sleep without specialist vet treatment and give them a chance of a new home. We’re so grateful for this campaign and Burgess’s support.”
* LOOK OUT for the Greyhound & Lurcher Two Week Takeover 2026 and get ready to nominate your favourite rescue charities! *
Championing rescue dogs
The best breed of dog is rescue! Sadly, due to a variety of circumstances, thousands of dogs end up in rescue centres across the UK through no fault of their own. For example, in 2024, Battersea directly cared for 2,766 dogs, Dogs Trust rescued 11,707 dogs, and Woodgreen took 2,094 pets into their care, with the number of stray pets brought to the charity increasing by 45%.
In 2025, to celebrate Yorkshire Day 2025, Burgess Pet Care launched the first-ever Yorkshire 1 Week Takeover campaign for dogs in rescues.A fabulous £3,472, collected from the proceeds of sales of Supadog Rich in Salmon – featuring an on-pack image of Jess, a two-year-old, rescued Staffy Cross – was donated in the form of free food to independent dog rescue charities.
Dog food is a significant expense for rescue charities, which is why donations of free, nutritious dog food can make a real difference to hard-working rescue organisations.
As well as helping to feed the dogs in their care, donations of food means rescue charities have more funds available for other vital aspects of their work, such as rehabilitation, vet care, training and rehoming.
Sarah from Pennine Pen Animal Rescue says: “Burgess very kindly donated a large amount of their Sensitive dog food to us recently. This donation was very much appreciated, as a lot of the dogs that come through our doors are from council pounds. These kennels are often high-stress environments, and we also have little background on the dogs’ dietary needs. This means that we often get dogs arriving who need to be on a sensitive diet. Over time, this can be a great expense to our small independent charity, and so the donation meant a lot to us. It ensures we are able to focus our funds on other important aspects such as vaccinations, neutering and any other medical requirements a dog may have.”
* The Yorkshire 1 Week Takeover will be back for 2026! *
A great big thank you!
So, remember, every time you purchase Burgess Supadog Greyhound & Lurcher food or Supadog Rich in Salmon, like and share a social post about one of our campaigns, or read an informative blog post about the best way to care for your pets, you’re making a real difference to the lives of pet animals across the UK. Thank you!
LOVE PETS? TRUST BURGESS – WE’RE EXPERTS IN OUR FIELD!
Burgess Pet Care is one of the UK's leading pet food manufacturers for the country’s most popular pets – dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas and degus, hamsters, gerbils and mice, rats and ferrets.
At Burgess Pet Care, all our high-quality recipes have been formulated by vets and nutritionists. This ensures they contain the right balance of vitamins and minerals to supplement your pet’s diet to help keep them happy and healthy. With a long tradition of supporting British farmers, we actively source all our ingredients as close to our mill as possible.
Is your dog a Burgess dog? Your cat a Burgess cat? Your small pets Burgess small pets? Join the Burgess Pet Club for exclusive offers, competitions and expert advice from our in-house vet, Dr Suzanne Moyes.
CARE MORE Find lots of useful advice on caring for your pets from Burgess, the pet experts. Training, nutrition, grooming and general care, it's all here >>
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WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR PETS IN NEED? From being a volunteer dog walker or cat confidence-builder, to using your gaming skills to raise charity cash, booking a pet-friendly holiday that donates part of the fee, or even signing up for an incredible personal challenge – sponsored skydive, anyone? – discover how you could make a difference to the lives of unwanted pets and support the organisations that care for them.
WINNING WINTER! If winter makes you want to spend as much time as possible on the sofa in your onesie, watching seasonal movies, fuelled by hot chocolate and Hobnobs, then you’re not alone. However, focusing on caring for your pet friends means they’ll get all the support they need, and you’ll bolster your own warm and fuzzy feelings!
A CRACKER OF A CHRISTMAS PET QUIZ Whatever your favourite category – animals in books, films and on TV, pets of famous people, different pet breeds or amazing animal facts, see how much you know by pitting your wits against our festive pet-themed quiz – and why not challenge your family and friends to play along too?
FESTIVE FILM STAR ANIMALS The festive season is a time to cuddle up on the sofa with our pets and watch some favourite family movies. So why not have a go at our fun quiz about some of the best-loved animal stars on film. Answers at the end – but no peeking!
HOW TO HELP YOUR PETS ENJOY WINTER There’s lots you can do to boost the feelgood factor for your furry friends.
THINGS TO MAKE AND DO When it comes to enriching toys for your pets to brighten up the dreary days of winter, why not get crafty and do it yourself?
WHAT PUTS YOUR SMALL PETS IN A GOOD MOOD? Along with socialising with their same species companion and interacting with their favourite human, our survey reveals the best thing you can to do to give your small furries a happiness boost…
GAME PLAN From ‘treat-seeking missions’ to indoor circuits, getting creative with cardboard box activity centres and paper bag wraps, we’ve got lots of ideas for to boost the feelgood factor for your four-legged friends.
COSY TOES AND SNUGGLY NOSES As temperatures dip, our animal companions need our help to stay warm and toasty during the winter months.
COME IN FROM THE COLD Practical ways from feline experts to help your cat cope with winter.
WET DAYS OUTDOORS AND MUDDY PAWS Whatever the weather, your dog needs regular walks, which means soggy doggies, muddy paws and the ‘alluring’ aroma of wet dog permeating your home. However, by investing in a few clever pieces of kit, both you and your canine chum can get through the wettest days of winter with ease.
WILD AT HEART Inside every pampered small pet is the desire to exhibit their natural behaviours, which reveal their wild origins. It’s the reason why bunnies want to dig and burrow, guinea pigs like to keep a watchful eye from a safe hiding place, hamsters stuff food in their cheek pouches and chinchillas prefer to sleep hunched up. Find out more about the fascinating behaviours of some of our favourite small furries.
SHOW YOUR PETS THE LOVE Every pet deserves the best – from the right environment to the correct nutrition and plenty of attention from their human. So why not make a pledge to be the best pet owner you can possibly be?
HOW TO TELL IF YOU HAVE A HAPPY PET Wheek-wheeking, bruxing, dooking, chirping, binkying, popcorning – there are all sorts of ways our pets tell us they’re feeling good, once you know what to look for...
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Dogs
Cats
Rabbits
Guinea pigs
