This is a half fall or a half empty cat and animal shelter story. It depends on how you look at it. From the perspective of the Delta Humane Society it is a half empty story; in fact it is far worse than that – it is devastating.
From my perspective it is very much a half full story because Del Monte Foods have been extremely generous over the past 6 years in providing food for the dogs and cats of the Delta Humane Society.
There are 160 dogs and cats at the shelter and they eat about $325 (US) worth of food daily. That food was provided by Del Monte. The reason why they provided the food is because it was defective in terms of packaging only, meaning the bag was torn or the print on the packaging was not up to scratch but the food was in perfect condition.
Of course, the shelter is devastated because over 6 years they have very much got used to receiving huge amounts of pet food weekly and then suddenly without a decent notice period the supply was abruptly stopped.
Each week, 2 to 4 pallets of dog and cat food were shipped into the shelter at no charge. That is an incredibly generous thing to do and I think it is a very clever thing to do because the food was unsaleable to the public in the state in which it was presented.
What Del Monte have done over the 6 years makes me think that other big manufacturers could do the same thing. Perhaps they do but I have never read about it. Perhaps somebody could enlighten me?
The question remains as to why Del Monte Foods ceased to provide pet food to the shelter.
Apparently, it may be connected with the fact that earlier this year Del Monte Foods created, out of their business, Big Heart Pet Brands. This was apparently a restructuring to make the company more efficient. Perhaps it was due to the economic crash and the recession that the world has suffered from since 2008 thanks to the recklessness and greed of the bankers. Or, a new boss made a decision. They have not given a reason, we are told.
As I said, the Humane Society is devastated and they are looking for a new supplier. Fortunately, they have 30 days supply remaining.
I think this is quite an enlightening story because as mentioned, it does raise the question as to why other big manufacturers are not as generous as Del Monte were for these past 6 years.
It seems highly plausible that other pet food companies have similar issues regarding the marketability of their product.
Photo: George Warren KXTV/News 10
On behalf of Roberta:
Hi,
I don’t have a working computer but I would suggest that Delta quickly have someone get on the phone to the people on this list (see link below) and see about another like kind arrangement. I don’t personally think it is wise to publicize that Del Monte abandoned them, although I do notice that the information may have been from a TV source.
Good luck to them. I didn’t know how to get this on the blog.
Best regards,
Rioberta
Link:
http://www.felinecrf.org/catfood_manufacturers_usa.htm
NO ONE HERE CAN SELL BUSTED BAGS OF ANIMAL FOOD .THEY ARE AFRAID THEY CAN GET SUED.DONT MAKE NO SENSE TO ME.THEY HAVE TO PUT IT IN THE LAND FILL.
Nancy, I take your point. Good point. But I don’t think the law forbids them giving away as a gift this pet food and also the recipient will have agreed to accept it. Therefore there’d be no possibility of being sued under these circumstances.
There is too much waste as you suggest.
Many big pet food companies give their food to those who look after cats and dogs. Majority do that for promotional purposes to build brand awareness and attractiveness in the eyes of consumers (alignment with a good cause). From one side yes, shelters/rescues need food, from another side, companies that produce not the best food for pets use this opportunity to raise their brand. If somebody produces good food and donates, fantastic! xx
DelMonte is a favored company for me. In my opinion, they are, incredibly, conscious if consumer pocketbooks and keep their prices within reason and produce quality food.
They are makers of the 9 lives line of cat food. I have moved closer to that brand because Purina has been having so many problems recently, claiming that they are having problems finding an ingredient. The ingredient is pork which is not listed on any of their products.
Anyway, I feel badly for Delta H.S., but they had a good run of 6 years; but many, many shelters are in need too. I can’t really muster a whole lot of sympathy for any Humane Society since they have “Big Daddy H.S.U.S.” raking in big bucks.
What angers me most is that Petsmart doesn’t donate their broken bags of food to anyone. They say that “Corporate” doesn’t allow. They, further, slice the bags open and dump in a dumpster. A few of us are joining to form “dumpster divers incorporated”.
Nice comment. It helped me understand the situation. It really wouldn’t take much to recycle “waste” pet food to pets in need. It is a bit like the supermarkets here in UK which throw away millions of tonnes of perfectly edible food every year because it is out of date. Some charities recover it and give it out to the poor but the supermarkets could do a lot more to assist in this.
Thank you for sharing Michael, I am not much active on PoC after the work of terrace cat shelter of mine because I get tired after the job (teaching students as I have adopted for more earning for my cats) but this post has made me happy because if a shelter is denoted 700,000 worth of cat/dog food, it is a great help for the tiny friends and a lucky shelter in one way. The other inside aspects of the story are secondary as the food is not contaminated.
A country like Pakistan where people even not care for humanity rather than thinking of cats and dogs, for me as compared to my country, this is a positive step and I was thinking that alas there should be some efforts here, at least for them who really look after cats and kittens. 🙁
Don’t work too hard Ahsan. Sorry you are tired. Mind you I am tired too 😉 There are some big businesses in Pakistan I am sure. It’s about commitment and desire whether they donate to charity. It’s about the nature of the man at the top of the company.
No Michael, here the companies are importers, and importers are only profit greedy people, not think about welfare of cats 🙁 I have tried.
And let me clear that you are the only person on this planet who have ever donated me 110 pounds. Otherwise I am on my own 🙁
Thank you for that info. Pakistan should start manufacturing more. Creating wealth and being charitable 😉
I share your view of the sitution Michael. I know it’s a massive blow to Delta Humane Society that they’ll no longer be receiving free pet food from Del Monte, but they were incredibly fortunate to have had their help for so long. I hope they can find a suitable new donor.
In the UK I know that both Pets at Home and Animal Friends Pet Insurance, both donate to animal charities at home and abroad. Animal Friends will donate £1 to animal charities for every “like” they receive on their Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/FeelGoodPark
I also do the daily clicks on web sites such as FreeKibble (sponsored by Halo pet foods) and Animal Rescue / The Greater Good as a way of boosting donations to animal charities.
Thank you Michele for that information. Big business gets a lot out of cats and dogs. They owe a debt. That’s my view.