A newly formed foodbank for pets is helping alleviate demand in South Canterbury.
Ingrid Moore, of Orari, woke up at 3am almost a month ago and worry kept her from going back to sleep.
The next morning she got in touch with friends to see what they thought about an idea she had, and four of them got together to form Barry’s Foodbank.
She recently stood down from a rescue group, so she knew how dependent those charities were on pet food donations.
She realised the cost-of-living crisis was making it harder for families to afford the essentials.
If they were giving up their pets simply because they could not afford to feed them, it would make it tougher for rescue groups.
The foodbank was named after her 2-year-old huntaway-bullbreed cross Barry.
The pampered pooch was a rescue pup who arrived at the rescue Mrs Moore worked at with his littermates Larry, Harry and Carrie.
She wanted to keep him immediately.
‘‘Mind you, I want to keep most of them,’’ Mrs Moore said.
While he had been adopted by a Christchurch resident, he had returned a year later when her health declined.
Barry was not her pet as ‘‘he owns me’’. As well as dogs, the foodbank would provide for other pets such as birds and cats, she said.
It had already ensured donations reached needy rescues. It had also donated to a couple of families.
One family said they had been going through rough times, and while they had asked family for help they had been forced to ask the foodbank.
The foodbank was a temporary stopgap.
While it could not provide for a pet’s lifetime, it could help out in emergencies, Mrs Moore said.
Food suppliers had reached out to offer help.
The foodbank would have a trailer full of logs to be raffled to raise funds at local swap meets.
Mrs Moore was fostering dogs for Animal Network New Zealand.
The foodbank can be contacted on Facebook, or email barryfoodbankrescue@gmail.com
