An animal food bank has been set up by a Perthshire charity in a bid to prevent pets being handed into rescue centres.

Becky’s Pet Food Bank will supply rations to cat and dog owners struggling to make ends meet and founder Carol Begg believes the move is key to helping hard-pressed people to keep their treasured animals.

She has recruited a team of 60 volunteers across the country to collect and distribute pet food, with drop-off points already set up across Perthshire, Fife and Edinburgh.

Carol, 47, who also runs Perthshire Gundog Rescue, said she had some reports of owners going without food or heating in order to ensure that their pet was fed.

She said: “I know what my dogs mean to me — I’ve been in dire straits myself years ago and the last thing I would do was give up my dog.

“We are seeing a lot of rescue dogs being given up because of people’s change in circumstances — they can’t afford to feed their dogs any more.

“The last thing they want to do is give up their pets but they have to if they can’t afford to feed them.

“There are vets that cater for veterinary treatment to help people on benefits but they don’t help feed them. I set this up to help people who are in dire need.

“My main aim with the rescue is to help people keep their animals if they can, whether it’s through training or some other support because, in an ideal world, we wouldn’t need animal rescues.

“People give up their animals with great difficulty and, on a weekly basis, I have to deal with the upset of people handing over their dogs to me and it’s tragic.

“I’ll do anything I can to help people because, at the end of the day, it helps the dogs as well — it stops a few dogs coming into rescue.”

Carol said she decided to name the service after one of her beloved rescue dogs, a cocker spaniel, which had to be put down recently.

“Becky was a dog I took in,” she said.

“Her health was dreadful and I nursed her round the clock for nearly three years.

“She touched a lot of hearts on my Facebook page. She was a wee dog that was loved by thousands of people.

“She was put to sleep about a week and a half ago and everybody is just as devastated as I am.

“When she died I thought I had to do something in her memory so that her memory never dies.”

Becky’s Pet Food Bank also hopes to help small, struggling rescue shelters which have been inundated with animals given up due to financial pressures.