Pet Epicure

This is where we live.  It’s beautiful.  It  is awe inspiring and it breaks our hearts to see the scars being torn in to the surrounding hills with all the new housing projects.

Being environmentally aware has been something the family has been trying for for some years now.  This mindset has also influenced the shop, the products we carry as well as how we run the rescue.

We use Breeders Celect, a cat litter made from recycled paper.  The soiled stuff is compostable and we are hoping to set up or purchase a composter so that we can turn our waste into something useful.  If any of our readers has any ideas of suggestions regarding this, please drop us a comment or email, thanks.

This is the on site fermenter (composting machine) by weimarbiotech that we saw at Justlife’s Earth Day Exhibition at IKANO.  We like

Our animals eat PINK, the raw food we make in house.  This is better for the environment because the resulting better health means less vet visits (carbon emissions), less medications (carbon emissions) and less parasites (less chemical to treat for said parasites).  This food is pack in plastic containers (bad, I know) but these containers are reused many many times.  Customers are also encouraged to reuse the containers or to bring them back to us for a small refund.

The cattery relies heavily of natural ventilation and fans on low.  This means using less energy to cool and ventilate.  The existing cattery is actually recycled from our previous setup.  We only bought new materials for the additional rooms.  They are made of glass and metal, so are fairly hardwearing and easy to clean with vinegar and water (less chemicals).

The rabbits and guinea pigs NIC pen is lined with shredded paper and old newspapers.  We’ve got our good old reusable bags that many customers have been very good about using!  Thanks guys.

We are also very keen to support Addiction’s latest range of kibble for cats and dogs.  While the fact that they have had to be transported here (big carbon footprint) is a drawback, this is likely true for almost all kibbles.  So when you compare apple to apples, they are better for the environment because some of the protein sources are actually wild animals like kangaroo.  These animals live free in their natural habitat until they are culled for your pet’s food.  This is imminently better for the environment than the intensive, modern farming that produces the battery hens that make up most of the typical pet foods available.  The salmon is wild caught and the venison is free range.  When it comes to pet food, I guess this is as good as it gets?

We’re always trying to think of ways to run the shop and rescue in a more eco friendly way so if you have any sustainable ideas that we have overlooked, please speak up.  With so much on our minds and plates, there is bound to be stuff we’ve overlooked.