PRESS RELEASE: Melbourne Lockdown – Who is feeding the pets?
– Pet Emergency Beacon takes over 150 cases in Melbourne overnight
– Hundreds of pets at risk from Corona displacement
– Huge food loads continue to ship from ARC donors
Melbourne Lockdown – Who is feeding the pets? ARC is
Melbourne, Victoria 8/72020 For Immediate Release. With lockdown on, hundreds of people now out of work and money scarce, feeding pets has become harder. Reports have come in immediately from Melbourne central of people making hard choices of who to feed first, the family or the pets.
Peak Body for Animal Rescuers, ARC has been placing emergency beacons in hotzones since the fires. These online beacons are geolocated to pinpoint people in need in a location. And last night, Melbourne lit up
Over 150 jobs were logged last night for emergency food supplies for pets via the ARC emergency beacon.
“It’s a large number day one, probably the largest so far, we will need all the help we can get to support food and shipping into the Melbourne Lockdown” said Alli Cairns, ARC Response Team
Some of the comments from the public show the distress and challenges they face
– “Mum just turned 83 and has recently lost my dad. With such a loss, COVID and me living half hour away and in lockdown, it’s been hard for her to get out to buy Jean Luc’s treats and food. Mum & Jean Luc need this”
– “Working full time hours as a casual up until corona hit and now there is no work And due to being casual we only receive a small amount from the government”
– “Significant reduction in income. Dog was previously fed high quality products (mfm, Ivory Coat, lifewise) however owner can now barely afford cheap options.”
– “I am both unable to afford cat food and not able to go to where I buy my pet food from as I am immunocompromised and I’m able to catch public transport like normal.”
– “Work hours have been drastically cut by my partner so we are on very very limited income. However my partner earns $2 over the Centrelink threshold to get anything extra (parenting partnered pay). We have 4 kids, 1 newborn and our dog chilli.”
– “Has lost her job & only able to get jobseeker start June. Has been going without herself to make sure pets have food & fresh kitty litter. Pets, especially kitties, are keeping her sane as she is in lockdown hotspot & very little physical interaction”
Thousands of cases have now been taken by ARC in nationally to support Corona distress. “We exist only on donations from the public and sponsors with the majority of our support from Petbarn Foundation” Said Alli. The Mini Kitty Commune, a small Cat Rescue org in Sydney and Petbarn Foundation have footed much of the bill through their sponsors.
“The cases are absolutely heart wrenching, people are making choices and sacrifices. The elderly were the first to suffer with isolation and lack of family access, but now it’s coming from everywhere as people lose work”.
“We prioritise the basics quickly, the majority of people just need food, no one is asking for largesse so we send them a months worth and keep in contact with them to make sure they are ok”.
“We can keep going with funding, we are all volunteers. We have product supplies and shipping costs as long as we have donations coming in”. Donations so far to ARC for Wildlife and Corona have all been spent with 96% of it’s funding gone straight out to emergency response “No one is sitting on bank accounts, it’s all gone to food”
To make a donation to help this program visit www.arcsupport.org.au/donate
To log a request for help visit www.arcsupport.org.au/corona
The ARC team has been sending food parcels to thousands of people around Australia in conjunction with Petbarn foundation’s “Act of Kindness program”. “Many of us who know people whose lives have been heavily impacted by COVID19. Whether it’s a friend that has lost a job or an elderly family member in isolation, or even yourself who has lost your job – the affect that COVID has had on people in the community has been overwhelming.
For further information
– Alli Cairns – National Coordinator ARC Response – [email protected]
– Louise Black – Melbourne Team Lead – [email protected]
– Marianna Del Ray – Melbourne Team Lead – [email protected]
The Animal Rescue Collective (ARC) is a national volunteer group that rescues and supports rescuers nationwide. During the Summer Bushfires, ARC donors spent over $3m to supply food, rescue equipment, water and emergency supplies to Animal Rescuers everywhere. This equated to 96% of all its donations. In Corona, it has scaled up a national response to help pets and rescuers keep going. The national organisation is a peak body for rescuers and works with every agency it can to help reduce risk of abandonment and animal cruelty.
The ARC team came together from groups of specialist Animal Rescuers, professionals, volunteers and wildlife workers, all with the same goals. To build a national capacity for supporting the broad rescue ecosystem. The ARC work in conjunction with peak bodies, major rescue organisations, thousands of individual rescuers and the care sector to respond with scale and help animals in need.
