22 Jan 2026
All animals at Harlow Pets at Home store, which includes a Vets for Pets practice, rescued and given veterinary assessment.
Chris Simpson
Job Title
The scene post-fire outside the Harlow branch of Pets at Home and Vets for Pets. Image credit: Essex County Fire and Rescue Service.
Pets at Home has thanked emergency services for rescuing 44 animals after a fire broke out at its Harlow store and Vets for Pets practice in Essex.
Four Essex County Fire and Rescue Service crews were called out to attend the blaze at 4:59am on Tuesday 20 January, where they successfully evacuated all the animals in the store including rabbits, guinea pigs and mice.
The animals have all received precautionary veterinary assessments and remain under the care of the vet teams and shop staff.
A Pets at Home spokesperson said: “Yesterday we were alerted to a fire affecting our petcare centre on Edinburgh Way in Harlow, which also includes Harlow Vets for Pets.
“We are incredibly grateful to Essex County Fire and Rescue Service who worked at speed to successfully contain and extinguish the fire and move the animals on site to safety. As a precaution, all animals are currently being assessed by veterinary surgeons.
“We would like to extend our thanks to our colleagues on the ground who are working tirelessly to care for the animals and support the ongoing assessment of the building.”
The service said its crews reported “the shop was 100% smoke logged” on arrival and that they found the fire in the back of the store.
Firefighters had extinguished the blaze by 7am and after a subsequent investigation determined the fire was caused accidentally.
Station manager Matt Bannon said: “Crews worked quickly to get the fire under control and to safely rescue the animals. We’re really pleased to have rescued them all and hope they recover quickly.”
Pets at Home said it is still assessing the damage to the building and so it cannot yet confirm when the store or vet practice will reopen.
On its Facebook page, the practice is currently referring clients requiring urgent care to Forest Vets Harlow during office hours, while out-of-hours care will remain at the RVC’s Queen Mother Hospital for Animals.
