Pet food donations help dogs during hard times

​Hundreds of bags of dry dog food have been delivered to Ali Curung to feed abandoned dogs

Posted: Wednesday, 20 February 2019

Hundreds of bags of dry dog food have been delivered to Ali Curung following a walk out in November last year by community members which left around 37 dogs abandoned.

Locals who remained in Ali Curung sent a plea to federal government and the local animal management team of Barkly Regional Council that dogs were starving and they were concerned for the safety of residents.

Council then asked for assistance from staff at the not-for-profit organisation Animal Management in Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities (AMRRIC), which facilitates vet and education programs into remote communities nationally.

Within a few weeks AMRRIC brought Darwin’s Top End Rehoming Group and pet food manufacturer Royal Canin on board to organise the provision and delivery of dog food donations to Ali Curung.

Council CEO Steve Moore said AMRRIC were brilliant. “Our animal management team needed to get donations for the dogs quickly, and AMRRIC staff didn’t stop until they found someone to provide the bags of dog food,” he said.

Ninety bags of 7.5kg Eukanuba Large Breed Diet dog food and 10 x 7.5 bags of Eukanuba Small Breed Diet dog food were donated by Royal Canin to help feed dogs throughout December and January.

“A truck was sent from the East Coast and AMRRIC organised three deliveries from Darwin to take dog food to Ali Curung, the latest delivery happening at the end of January,” he said. “Council staff then picked up the bags of dry food and have been watering and feeding the dogs.”

A spokesperson from AMRRIC said hundreds of bags of dog food have been supplied with huge support from Darwin’s Top End Rehoming Group and Royal Canin.

“The donations were delivered by truck to Council headquarters in Tennant Creek by Stu McLaren from McLaren Concepts and John Piening from Piening Indigenous Services,” she said. “More bags of dog food are available if the community runs out.”      

Dean Richardson, of Consumer Care at Royal Canin Pacific, said: “We’re passionate about the health and wellbeing of dogs and are pleased to have been able to assist in this challenging situation.”

At a meeting of the Ali Curung Local Authority earlier this week, concerned residents requested that Council’s Animal Management team continue feeding the abandoned dogs until plans to rehome dogs in Ali Curung and Tennant Creek are completed.