Rimi stores are running a campaign to support homeless animals “Good to do good”
For the fifth year in a row, the manufacturer Mars Lietuva and the retail chain Rimi are carrying out a charity campaign “Good to Do Good” with the aim of drawing the attention of the population to the abandonment of stray animals in Lithuania and supporting animal shelters with food. Until December 6. Special donation boxes are waiting for you in the Rimi stores, and shoppers are invited to leave their pet products.
The global pandemic has led people to pay more attention to pets, and Lithuania is no exception. During the quarantine, residents who had not previously had a pet decided to purchase or accept a friend of the four from the shelter to the family. However, representatives of animal welfare organizations also see the other, sadder side of the coin: some quadruped wards admitted during the pandemic found themselves in shelters. Some animal care facilities are in short supply of quality food for wards this year.
“Last year, 4 tons of food for pets were collected during this campaign. We hope that this year, once accustomed to seeing food donations in supermarkets, people will be even more active. And Mars Lietuva has another good news – the company will add a second as much pet food as the participants of the donation campaign to the collected support. At the end of the campaign, we expect solid parcels for shelters in Lithuanian cities, ”says Mindaugas Rupšys, Head of Corporate Affairs at Mars Lietuva.
© Photo by the organizers
Those who have a pet also think about the homeless
During the campaign, the retail chain Rimi conducted a survey of buyers, during which it became clear that 57% of the participants in the annual campaign “Good to do good” regularly or sometimes participate in it. respondents. Net 76 percent. survey participants said the pet itself – 32 percent. raises a dog at home, 38 percent. the cat and the rest take care of the other animals.
Ask about how to eat pets, even 50 percent. 37 percent said they choose a balanced diet that meets their pet’s health needs. respondents need to consider price and sale offers.
“The Rimi retail chain constantly monitors the solution of various social problems, but it is no less concerned with environmental protection, as well as animal safety. Therefore, by participating in this campaign, we want to encourage our buyers to think about those who are left unattended due to irresponsible human behavior, and at the same time help shelters to provide pet food. Together, we can create significant support that will not only make the homeless better – we also help the organizations that take care of them, ”says Gabrielė Šerėnienė, Head of Public Relations at Rimi Lietuva.
The number of homeless people in shelters has increased
Research by the international company Mars shows that people paid more attention to pets during the pandemic. The general global trend is a gratifying but worrying situation in Lithuania. Institutions caring for homeless quadrupeds note that animals that people had acquired during quarantine are being brought to the shelter.
© Photo by the organizers
“The former owners of the animals went to work, to schools and decided that they didn’t have enough time for pets. Or, let’s say the host didn’t take care of sterilizing the cat and lo and behold, the animals, their offspring, end up with us. This year was the first year of our activity, when in the autumn we completely ran out of animal food – we poured food from the last bags, weighed, counted how many grams still. Volunteers started buying themselves. We turned to where we could, we asked for some food, ”says Greta Linkė, the animal welfare coordinator of the health shelter Pas in Kėdainiai.
The support gathered during the current campaign of Mars Lietuva and the Rimi retail chain will be very important for the Pifo shelter – according to G. Linkė, after the Christmas period, it is likely that the personal will be able to breathe at least a few times without feeling the food shortage for pets.
Vesta Auškalnienė, the head of the animal care organization Lesė Vilnius, also states that the number of cats in shelters is growing, and the number of homeless dogs is not decreasing.
“A new gloomy trend – pets find themselves in shelters after their owners have died. It must be admitted that we felt the recovery during the first quarantine and people were more inclined to accept the pet, but after that everything got back on track, ”regrets V. Auškalnienė.
© Photo by the organizers
She agrees that any support for shelters is crucial, as it is home to stray animals. “If we do not receive support – we will turn away from the situation, please,” says the head of Lesė Vilnius.
As many as 37 Rimi stores have boxes for leaving food for animals. They can be found in Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Alytus, Šiauliai, Panevėžys, Palanga and Mažeikiai.
The campaign “Good to do good” Rimi will run until December 6, and the pet food collected after the campaign, together with the food produced in the company by Mars Lietuva, will reach the shelter. The animal food donated by the participants and organizers of the campaign will be distributed in Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai, Panevėžys, Alytus, Utena, Kėdainiai, Šilutė, Visaginas and Elektrėnai to their shelters.
* The survey was conducted on November 12–20 at Rimi store terminals throughout Lithuania.