The centre was chosen by Yorkshire pet food company Burgess to be a beneficiary of its Our Forever Promise iniative.

It means that for every small bag of dog food sold, Tia will get 5p. For every 15kg sack it will receive 20p.

Debra Rothery, who runs the Tia centre with husband Bob, was at the launch of the scheme at the Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate.

She said: "It costs us around £200,000 a year to keep the centre open.

"We have raised all that money ourselves through donations. Burgess's Forever promise will make a big difference.

"I'm very grateful to Burgess because we do face a battle for survival – the amount of money it takes just to cover our mortgage can seem very scary at times.

"But we have a lot of fantastic friends and a lot of support."

Tia has rehomed more than 1,400 dogs since 2007.

Burgess will boost Tia's funds from sales of its new Supadog food, made especially for greyhounds and lurchers.

Marketing director Christine Neasham said the company was dedicated to supporting animal-welfare charities.