Pet food donated by one of the world’s largest pet care companies. Photographs of boxes being delivered to animal rescues. Then advertisements offering donated food for sale in a charity shop.
What happened to the food supplied by MARS Petcare to Pumpkin and Friends Charity?
We examined the charity’s own Facebook posts, received concerns from members of the public and sought clarification from MARS.
December 2024 — A Generous Donation
On 23rd December 2024, Pumpkin and Friends Charity announced that it had collected a substantial donation of cat and dog food from MARS Incorporated. The charity expressed its gratitude for being selected and published photographs showing large quantities of pet food.
It also announced that food had been delivered to six animal rescues and charitable organisations across Lincolnshire.
Sharing donated food with struggling rescues was undoubtedly a welcome gesture. However, subsequent events raise questions about what happened to other supplies received from MARS.
On 6th March 2025, Pumpkin and Friends Charity announced that it would share cat food between eight named rescue organisations in Lincolnshire. Once again, the announcement focused on supporting other organisations caring for animals.
But by June, the charity’s public messaging had changed.
June 2025 — Donated Food Goes on Sale
On 4th June 2025, Pumpkin and Friends Charity thanked MARS Incorporated and MARS Petcare for another donation of pet food. This time, the charity announced that the food was being stocked in preparation for its charity shop opening. It advertised:
– Small boxes containing 12 sachets — £2
– Large boxes containing 40 sachets — £5
The charity stated that the proceeds would support its work helping disabled animals. There is nothing inherently improper about a charity selling donated goods to raise funds. The crucial question is whether MARS donated this particular food with the understanding that it would be sold, rather than used to feed animals or distributed to rescues.
July 2025 — Some Donated, the Rest Sold
On 31th July 2025, Pumpkin and Friends Charity again thanked MARS Petcare UK for a donation of cat and dog food. Its Facebook post listed quantities of food to be distributed to several animal rescues.
However, it also announced: “The remaining Whiska’s Cat food will be available in our shop.” The charity advertised the same prices: £2 for small boxes and £5 for large boxes.
This was no longer a question of whether donated pet food might have been sold. Pumpkin and Friends Charity was publicly advertising MARS-donated food for sale.
What remained unclear was whether MARS had authorised that use of its donations.
Members of the Public Raise Concerns
We recently received correspondence from members of the public questioning the charity’s handling of donated pet food. One individual described personally seeing boxes of cat food being sold in the charity shop, reportedly in substantial quantities.
Another questioned why food supplied by a major pet care company was being sold when cat rescues were struggling to obtain sufficient supplies for animals in their care.
These individuals also raised wider concerns, which we are examining separately.
The public were asking a straightforward question: was this what MARS intended when it donated the food?
MARS Petcare Responds — Donations Ended
As part of our investigation, we contacted MARS to ask about the intended purpose of the donations and whether the company knew that some of its pet food was being sold.
In written correspondence dated 30th October 2026, MARS Petcare UK stated:
As part of this commitment, we provide support in various forms, including product donations. While Pumpkin & Friends were not one of our primary charity partners, we had previously provided a small quantity of pet food to support the animals in their care.
We subsequently became aware that some of this donated food was being sold by the charity. Following a review, we made the decision to end our donations in 2025.
MARS did not simply stop donating without explanation. Its written response directly links its decision to end donations with becoming aware that donated food was being sold.
But Is Pumpkin & Friends a Cat Rescue?
Remember, MARS stated: we had previously provided a small quantity of pet food to support the animals in their care.
There is another important question.
Pumpkin and Friends Charity’s description on the Charity Commission register includes *rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming of disabled animals*.
Yet the Facebook evidence supplied for this investigation primarily documents the charity providing mobility equipment to cats already living with families, sanctuaries or rescue organisations. Providing mobility equipment can make a genuine difference to disabled animals. But supplying a wheelchair to a cat already rescued or cared for by somebody else is not the same as rescuing, housing, rehabilitating and rehoming that cat.
And Trustee Richard Blogg stated in a Facebook Live post on 3rd November that Pumpkin & Friends Charity is not a rescue.
January 2026 — Even One Cat Could Not Be Taken In
On 11th January 2026, Pumpkin and Friends Charity published an appeal concerning its proposed Animal Retreat & Respite Centre. The charity stated that, during the first eleven days of the year, it had been asked to save, rehome or take in 15 dogs and one cat.
It explained that it could not accommodate the animals because it did not have the space. If the charity does not have the facilities to take in animals requiring rescue or rehoming, what does the rescue element of its Charity Commission description mean in practice?
And why was an organisation whose documented feline work centres largely on mobility equipment receiving quantities of cat food that cat rescues could have used to feed the homeless cats in their care?
Our Conclusion
MARS donated pet food to Pumpkin and Friends Charity on the understanding that it would be used for the animals in its care. The charity publicly advertised a quantity of that donated pet food for sale. MARS subsequently confirmed that, after becoming aware of this, it ended its donations in 2025. Those are the documented facts.
The question is not whether charity shops can sell donated goods. They can. The question is why Pumpkin and Friends Charity decided not to donate all the MARS pet food to rescues and instead decided to sell it in their charity shop to benefit their own charity.
And that is a question the charity should be prepared to answer.