News
Putting pets first

Putting pets first

Beechcroft – the perfect choice for pet-loving retirees by Jane Slade. As any devoted animal lover will tell you, they would never be prised away from their pet or move to a retirement property without their four-legged friend.

Written by

Jane Slade

Beechcroft – the perfect choice for pet-loving retirees by Jane Slade

As any devoted animal lover will tell you, they would never be prised away from their pet or move to a retirement property without their four-legged friend.

So it’s not surprising to learn that Beechcroft, one of the nation’s top retirement operators, welcomes retirees and their pets with open arms – or paws.

What’s more, those owners who are single or live alone often find a collection of pet-owners at their new development and community of new friends.

Retired businesswoman Gill Smith, 61, moved to Beechcroft’s Castle Gardens development in Watlington, Oxfordshire in April with her six-year-old Cockapoo Coco – and instantly has found herself in a community of seven pet owners.

“There are lots of lovely dog-owners,” she says. There’s a dog walking group and a litter patrol that collects rubbish from the playing fields before the children arrive. And even a dog-friendly café.

The main stipulation for Gill was to find a home with an enclosed garden for Coco. “I found one at Castle Gardens,” she said, “Which was something no other retirement community I visited offered.”

Gill admits her life would be very difficult without Coco particularly as she is single and has moved to an area where she didn’t know anyone. “I live alone so would probably have felt quite isolated and wouldn’t have gone out much.”

As it is she has made lots of new friends and even trained Coco to be a therapy dog so she can visit people in care homes.

“A dog forces you to get out – and make friends,” she insists.

Photos of some cakes at Beechcroft's coffee morning

Retired musician Jane Reynard would certainly agree. She had two non-negotiable conditions when she moved to her spacious two-bed apartment at Beechcroft’s Cotswold Gate development in Burford, 18 miles west of Oxford.

She had to be able to bring her piano and her cat. Luckily her home is ideal to accommodate both. “It is very well designed with masses of storage space,” she explains.

“With a perfect spot to place my non-negotiable piano which has a silent function so it doesn’t annoy the neighbours.“

Happily, her black and white moggie, Professor Sir Humphrey, has settled in nicely too.

“He has his own cat flap and just loves the underfloor heating,” She adds.

Jane also quickly discovered a fellow feline-friendly neighbour. “One of my lovely neighbours has a cat as well and we quickly established mutual cat-feeding arrangements for when we are away for short periods.”

According to the 2023 PDSA Animal Wellbeing (PAW) Report some 53 per cent of UK adults own a pet with 29 per cent having a dog (resulting in an estimated population of 11 million dogs) and 24 per cent have a cat (11 million cats).

The pet-owning population swelled considerably during Covid with many retirees spending much of the pandemic with only their pet for company.

However a pet is a lot more than a cuddly companion. They provide a great incentive to get up in the morning and get out – dogs need walking twice a day. So they are good for health, fitness and wellbeing.

One dog-owner reported losing four inches round his waist after walking his pooch twice a day for six months. Pets are also great social networkers, with many owners reporting that they refer to the dog-owners they meet on walks as Buster’s mum or Wally’s walker.

Even celebrities don’t like their pets to be far from their side. Fans of TV chef Rick Stein will remember his Jack Russell co-star, Chalky. Chalky used to get more fan mail than the restaurateur; and there was a huge outpouring of grief when he died in 2007.

And Gardener’s World star Monty Don is still mourning the loss of his beloved on-screen canine chum Nell just three years after losing his Golden Retriever Nigel.

“We love pets at our developments,” says Angela South, Beechcroft’s Sales and Marketing Director.

“And our developments are particularly popular with pet owners since so many are near to parks and large open spaces, where there is plenty of good-walking terrain.”

It’s not just retirement schemes putting pets centre stage. The luxury cruise liner Queen Mary 2 has a deck dedicated to passenger’s pets with kennels, dog walkers and even a chef devising special menus.

While several top hotels now offer pet-sitting and butler services for four-legged guests.

Jane Slade is the founder of the retirement property website retiremove.co.uk