Blyth pet shop welcomes retired police dog for National Service Animal Week
A Blyth pet shop celebrated National Service Animal Week with a special visit from a retired police dog.
Jollyes Pets will be raising vital funds and awareness for the National Foundation for Retired Service Animals (NFRSA) until Sunday, May 11.
The campaign is being held to mark the charity’s fourth anniversary and Jollyes will welcome retired service animals and their handlers for special in-store appearances across a selection of stores including Edinburgh, Cannock, Blyth, Plymouth, Cardiff, Lisburn and Gloucester.
Retired police service dog Nash, and her handlers Rona and Tony Malessa visited the Blyth store welcoming customers on Wednesday, May 6.
Nash, a nine-year-old Belgian Malinois, served with Northumbria Police from 2017 to 2025, helping detain dangerous suspects and locate vulnerable missing people.
During her career she safely detained many dangerous suspects and located countless vulnerable missing people.
Now retired, Nash is enjoying life with Rona and Tony from the NFRSA Northeast Hub — and recently made a VIP appearance at the opening of the new Jollyes store in Hartlepool in February.
The NFRSA helps support the care, well-being, and welfare of retired service animals from across the emergency service family - the police, fire, border force, National Crime Agency, NHS and prison services.
Retired service animals do not receive any additional funds to support their care and upkeep once they are retired and are also unable to receive meaningful pet insurance due to their age and training.
Jollyes’ partnership with the NFRSA began in 2024 and continues to grow through in-store fundraising, awareness campaigns and support for community and new store openings involving retired service animals.
Darren Allman store manager at Blyth said: “We’re incredibly proud of our partnership with the NFRSA and the amazing work it does to support service animals and their handlers.
“At our store we’re delighted to help raise awareness and vital donations for such an important cause.
“We’re excited to continue supporting the charity and look forward to celebrating a third National Service Animal Week together.”
To end the week of fundraising, Lady Countess Bathurst founder of the NFRSA will be visiting the Jollyes store in Gloucester where she will be presented with a cheque for money raised from the stores during the week.