Rescuing greyhounds with Return and Earn

Eva Deli adopted her first rescue greyhound, Shadow, five years ago. She runs a pet-sitting and dog-walking service and, naturally, adores animals.

“When I went to collect Shadow, I saw how many rescue greyhounds there were. I wanted to do more, but I couldn’t adopt 1,000 of them.”

Last year, Eva saw an advertisement on the back of a bus for the Vinnies bulk container returns, and she realised that using the Return and Earn container deposit scheme could be a way to sustainably fundraise to support rescue greyhounds.

Vinnies offers bulk container collection sites in partnership with Return and Earn. These sites allow customers to easily return large volumes of containers, and to choose whether to keep their refunds or donate them to Vinnies.

“I reached out to some of my clients to see if they would donate containers, and I also asked a couple of businesses if they could save their containers for me to collect,” says Eva. “Money raised goes to NSW Central Coast Rescue Greyhounds to cover expenses such as vet bills, bedding, and food for greyhounds that have been discarded by the racing industry.”

“The woman who runs the organisation has done so much for greyhounds on her own – she has rescued and re-homed over 600 greyhounds and has around 30 of them on her own property at any time,” says Eva.

Fundraising started slowly but has grown steadily.

“When I go to pick up animals for pet-sitting or walks their owners often leave a box of empty bottles for me, and I have other people who call me on an ad hoc basic when they have some for me to collect. I get 300 or 400 containers to return each week now,” Eva says.

“We’ve raised over $1,000 so far, and it’s growing so fast that I don’t think the next $1,000 will take long at all,” she says.

Eva recently adopted Gracie, her second rescue greyhound. “She had an untreated injury when I got her, which is another example of why funds are needed to help these gorgeous animals.”

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