All selfless Harvey wants for his ninth birthday is ... pet food

Harvey Lewis turned nine on Monday, but instead of asking for the latest toys and gadgets, he asked his pals to buy him dog and cat food so he could give it to animals in need at Blackberry Farm Animal Centre in Quainton.

The youngster, who lives in Ivinghoe with mum Louise, said: “I decided to ask my friends if they wanted to give me cat and dog food and toys for my birthday instead of presents for myself.

“I didn’t expect anything, it was just if they wanted to. I hope the cats and dogs are happy with my donations. I love animals and wanted to help the homeless ones as they can’t help themselves.

“I chose Blackberry Farm and they felt pleased with me. I’m looking forward to taking some more donations shortly. I liked walking round and seeing the animals that I’m helping. I hope they all find nice homes soon.”

Harvey, who attends Brookmead School in Pitstone, enjoyed a party in the Easter holidays at Quasar in Hemel Hempstead and was overwhelmed to see how many donations he received.

Mum Louise said: “I’ve never seen someone so excited opening cat and dog food! His friends were really generous.

“Harvey has always been fascinated by animals, and he has two cats called Theo and 
Milo, who he calls ‘his boys’ –he’s taught them tricks!

“When we went to the centre to drop off the food, we saw volunteers helping in the cat pens and he said he would quite like to do that one day.

“He said he doesn’t want to be a vet because he would get too upset when the animals died. He is always thinking of others and I am extremely proud of him.”

Posting on their Facebook page, staff at Blackberry Farm said: “We would like say a huge thank you to Harvey Lewis, who had friends to his birthday party and asked them all to donate cat and dog food and toys for Blackberry Farm instead of asking for presents for his ninth birthday. How nice is that!”