By Brendan Rees
A whopping donation of dog food has left many tails wagging at a Pearcedale animal shelter.
Two pallets containing 800 kilograms of dog food was dropped off at the RSPCA Pearcedale shelter recently – leaving a number of pooches licking their lips.
The gift was made possible thanks to the generosity of a Frankston woman who had used some leftover membership funds from her canine walking group that sadly shutdown.
Suzanne Gardner said due to personal health issues she had no choice but to close her club, Guinevere’s Dog Walking and Social Group, which she founded with her husband Mark 22 years ago.
“I wanting to step back and there’s no one else willing take my place,” Ms Gardner said.
The club’s members, she said, wanted their remaining funds to go to a “good place” with animal welfare always being “at the heart” of the club.
With the help of Liken Fencing Stockfeed Garden Supplies in Hastings, the club managed to raise $1800 to buy the 800 kilograms of dry feed.
“It was about 40 bags or something, it was just a huge amount of dog food,” Ms Gardner said.
“Communities are awesome what little people can achieve”.
Giving back to the community has been something that runs in the family of Ms Gardner whose mother volunteered at an op shop for a number of years.
“In our family – there was this consciousness of people being isolated in the community and how important it is to connect people,” she said.
Ms Gardner said her former canine club had made small donations to RSPCA in the past using their petty cash, including the donaton of towels and blankets.
RSPCA Pearcedale customer care team leader Amanda Gramlick said the shelter was grateful and appreciative to have received such a mammoth gift.
