Pet food saved from landfill is being repurposed to help feed family pets impacted by the cost-of-living crisis – and Return and Earn donations are being called for to help get the food where it is needed most.
Since 2019, the Animal Rescue Cooperative (ARC) charity has been on the frontline of major disasters such as bushfires and floods, redistributing tonnes of food and medical supplies to assist rescuers and carers feed and treat wildlife.
Now ARC is also working with community grocery pantries to help families and pets stay together in the face of rising living costs – and the charity is keen for donations from Return and Earn bottles, cans and cartons to help fund their work, said ARC Sydney hub lead and logistics coordinator Sarah Tomsett.
“There’s such great demand. Fifty per cent of the food now goes to outreach and the other 50 per cent goes to rescues.
“If you can help someone feed their pet, it is one less thing people have to worry about.
“A lot of the food pantries were finding people who were coming in to get a hamper were feeding the protein in the hamper to their dogs and they were living on rice and beans and pasta.
“If you add some dog food as well, then they get a decent feed and so do the pets.”
The connection with community pantries began during the COVID lockdown.
“People couldn’t come and pick up because of all the restrictions so we started reaching out to community food pantries and built a network to give them pet food for people who were struggling to feed their animals, especially people who couldn’t work,” Sarah explained.
The pet food industry, supermarkets and medical facilities donate product approaching their end date to ARC for redistribution. The Petbarn Foundation is a major supporter of ARC.
Last year ARC helped with 2,952 requests across Australia, delivering over 440 tonnes of pet food and supplies.
“That is more than 4 million animal meals and an estimated 2,024 tonnes of carbon saved through smarter logistics and reuse,” Sarah said.
“This does not even count the extra impact from repurposed medical gear and retail stock.”
Funds from ARC’s Return and Earn campaign will be used to cover the cost of transporting and storing food where it is needed.
Recyclers have donated over 7000 containers, raising $740 to help ARC’s goal of fighting animal hunger and sickness. ARC hopes to raise $5000.
“It is a nice way for people to help, who may not have much money to donate but they can donate their bottles,” said Sarah.
To donate search for ARC Food Rescue Program in the charity section of the Return and Earn app.
To learn more about ARC visit their webpage: ARC – Animal Rescue Cooperative – Supporting Animal Rescuers
