PRESS RELEASE: $200, 000 in support for Animals helped by Volcano Victim Angela Glover

Media Release

Donations flooding in for the animals of Tonga – Call out for more
$200, 000 in product and financial support by friends of Volcano Victim Angela Glover
Massive shipping and support from ARC Australia

23/01/22 – For Immediate release
Australian based friends and supporters of Angela Glover, the first victim of last Saturday’s volcanic eruption and tsunami in Tonga, have banded together with the Animal Rescue Cooperative (ARC) on a rescue mission for the animals of Tonga, as a tribute to their much-loved friend and passionate animal welfare advocate.

Ash from the volcano and Tsunami has devastated parts of Tonga and the community. Joey at ARC Gippsland has worked with Angela and Tonga Animal Welfare Society (TAWS) for years shipping donations in with the assistance of a logistics specialist Jodie Clark working with the Tongan Government.

Within 24 hours of the tragedy, “Petbarn, Safe4All Australia (QLD), Royal Canin immediately stepped up, with nearly 50k in food and medical donations supported by $25k in public donations raised and spent overnight”. These donations allow ARC to support the uplift of vital food and medical support to the Island. “What was key to us was spending it immediately to get supplies onto the island “fast time is everything”. Donors want it spent and islands need support immediately”.

“Supply chain issues are difficult in COVID but the partners were incredible. What we couldn’t get donated we bought fast. We have had assistance from a local trucking firm donating space to move supplies from the Brisbane hub to Melbourne.

This generosity has continued, in the last week ARC has collected $156,000 is donations with 26 pallets of donated animal supplies, including: pet food, and essential medical consumables ready for shipment to Tonga as soon as the Tonga Port is open. These supplies will be delivered to the TAWS, the only animal welfare organisation in Tonga. Angela, in collaboration with a team of animal loving Tongans, played a pivotal role in cofounding TAWS in 2020.

The ARC has been supporting TAWS since its inception. TAWS provides hands on care for the animals in Tonga, (especially dogs and cats), with support of a small team of Tongan veterinary nurses, a team of volunteer veterinarians based out of New Zealand working for South Pacific Animal Welfare (SPAW) who have also been supporting TAWSs for many years.
Deb Allen from TAWS Tonga, said ”we can now extend our reach to the outer Islands, some have been completely destroyed. We have never had enough resources to reach the Islands before, these donations are extraordinary and give us hope and light. Thankyou ARC and its team and donors”

ARC wants to thank Key Donors Pet barn, Safe4All Australia (QLD) and Royal Canin and the many individual private donors (611) for their timely generosity and ongoing support.
But the ARC needs continued support. They are calling on more Australian businesses, organisations and individuals to support this important cause. It has been a huge logistical exercise, that saw the ARC, working in collaboration with representatives from Tonga, local logistics specialists and key vendors throughout Australia to pull together this load of emergency supplies.

We are looking for a donor to cover the shipping costs for a 40ft & 20ft container from Melbourne to Tonga carrying the donated goods.

Continued support will remain in place whilst funding continues to help TAWS rebuild.

ARC (Animal Rescue Cooperative) is an existing and registered large charity in Australia with DGR (Tax Deductible Gift Recipient) status. We are registered with ABN 25 151 709 481. We also have approvals to provide support to Tonga and other parts of the south pacific in our ACNC listing (https://www.acnc.gov.au/charity/charities/14017e8a-99d5-eb11-bacc-000d3a6acd0d/profile).

To support the important work of the ARC and TAWS, click on the links below
ARC https://arcsupport.org.au/donations/arcworld/
https://www.facebook.com/animalrescuecoop

TAWS https://www.tawstonga.org/
• All donations are tracked and case managed with full proof of execution
• Further information on our work is here www.arcsupport.org.au

We will intake to our large Melb, Sydney and Brisbane hubs to load onto supply vessels as these become available. Funding will come from our public donors to support the work and any remaining re-donated to TAWS.

ARC has in the past supplied large food drops to Tonga, this is a BAU existing engagement.
The ARC board has the appropriate legal, financial and logistics experience to take on this project, and the national team supporting the hubs has a strong track record in execution at scale.

For more information on the ARC rescue mission, contact
• Sharon Rigby (ARC) Ph: 0417659788 email: [email protected]
• Jodie Clarke email: [email protected]

ARC is a national volunteer driven support organisation for Animal Rescue. Working with peak bodies, vendor partners and government, they are relied on to action immediate support in times of need. Whilst TAWS support is in progress the ARC is also maintaining a BAU supply chain across the country that continues to accept and distribute supplies and donations everywhere. All of this is being done on a shoestring budget and with a team that is communicating on an hourly basis with minimal delay whilst holding down day jobs and running their own rescue orgs.