Pets at Home has pledged to donate £100,000 to help aid relief efforts in the Australian bushfires that has so far displaced, injured, or killed an estimated 500 million animals.

The retailer has donated the money to conservation organisation Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) to support its efforts with what has been dubbed the worst wildfire natural disaster in world history.

Peter Pritchard, Pets at Home’s group chief executive, said: “We will be making our donation through our VIP loyalty programme, Lifelines, which will be used by WWF wherever it is most needed.

“We’re grateful for all of our customers and clients and the Lifelines that they generate through choosing to spend their hard-earned money with us – whether that be in our stores, our grooming salons or Vets4Pets, so we can all be proud of this donation.

“We hope that this donation will make a positive difference to the lives of many animals in the affected areas of Australia.”