There’s a few things which have eased us through the long days, and occasional sleepless nights, of lockdown, two of them have now come together in a brilliant charitable combination.

The mobile games company King, best known for Candy Crush, has got together with Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in a new and innovative collaboration. If you’re one of the millions of players of PET RESCUE SAGA you can now raise money for the charity just by playing the game! The four-week campaign is well underway now and is available for all UK residents.

The content of the game includes weekly challenges for players, based on the work done by Battersea, as well as set targets. For every completed task, King will make a monetary donation to the charity.

This partnership is especially well-timed as we begin to see the devastating effects of COVID-19 on pets. Battersea recently released a report showing that small rescue homes and charities are currently at risk as the pandemic causes a reduction of more than 50% in income.

• Pet ownership increased during lockdown. In the three months April–June.
• 31% of people who acquired a dog or cat in this period had not been considering becoming pet owners before lockdown.
• This cohort of new pets is at potential risk of health and behaviour problems.
• Overseas breeders have become a more significant source of puppies and kittens, to meet the significant spike in UK demand.
• Legal imports of dogs increased by 94%, indicating that illegal, cross-border puppy smuggling is also likely to have increased.

Furthermore, although the demand for pets has risen thanks to lockdowns, there has been an influx of sick dogs and cats being given to charities due to families buying from irresponsible breeders and sellers.

One of the must watch TV shows during lockdown, and indeed anytime, is ‘Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs’, following Paul as he meets some of the dogs in the care of Battersea.

Filmed across three centres in London, Old Windsor, and Brands Hatch, animal lover extraordinaire and Battersea Ambassador Paul O’Grady meets some of the many Battersea dogs looking for help, love and new homes.

If you’d like to know more about the series, and an episode guide, go here, PAUL.

An increase of 27% of stray dogs and cats has been predicted in the coming five years due to impulse buyers of pets during lockdowns. The work of Battersea is, therefore, as crucial as ever and this collaboration with King is the ideal way for anyone with a mobile phone to help out!

Battersea head of operations Rob Young said……

“Every penny donated to Battersea as a result of this partnership will go directly toward the care of our animals and others across the UK and beyond – so we hope Pet Rescue Saga’s loyal players will enjoy this opportunity to game for good and help real-life dogs and cats in need.”

So the Pet Rescue Saga campaign is needed now, more than ever. We spoke to Battersea’s Rebecca Loder, and Lina McAneny from Pet Rescue Saga.

If you’d like to find out more about the work of Battersea and how they are supporting animal welfare across the country, just head to their site HERE.

As for the game, all you need to do is play Pet Rescue Saga and save the pets from the evil Pet Snatchers by matching and removing blocks in the cutest online game ever! Play alone or with friends to see who can get the highest score! It’s really great fun, and of course you are helping an incredibly important charity.

Pet Rescue Saga is available to download on the App Store. For more details, head over to the King site HERE.