Tara’s treats turned into a lifeline for owners who struggle to feed their dog
PROFITS BUY PET FOOD FOR CITY’S FOOD BANKS
AT the height of the pandemic, some pet owners hit by money worries were faced with a terrible choice – do I feed myself or my beloved dog?
While offering a fantastic service, food banks weren’t able to offer pet food in their weekly parcels.
That’s when a Derbyshire woman came up with a business idea which not only helps owners who are struggling financially to feed their pets, but also gives others the option to buy naturally made products for their pooches.
Tara Paonessa, from Mickleover, started her business, Spirit’s Community, to provide much-needed dog food to food banks across the city.
Her company, which sells naturally made treats, dog food and enrichment toys, uses all the profits from the business to buy dog food for those struggling to feed their pets.
Tara founded the company in 2020, at the height of the pandemic, after identifying the issue with food banks.
Tara said: “We realised that people were being forced to make difficult choices of feeding themselves or their beloved dogs, because of changes in their circumstances due to coronavirus.
“And we felt that something needed to be done to help, as very few food banks offered dog food in their weekly parcels.
“It’s a community interest company and every penny of profit we make goes to feeding dogs whose owners need a little help through no fault of their own.”
Tara added that she believed the complicated nature of buying pet food, and other treats for animals, can make things harder for families who struggle financially.
She is using her company to make it easier for people to buy what they want, while also raising money for those in need at the same time.
She said: “The dog food sector is a minefield of choice and opinions on how to feed your dog, googling is very confusing.
“Some people say raw, some say wet food, some home cooked, some dry food and some a mixture of the four options.
“I decided to take courses in canine nutrition to see if I could figure out what I thought was best.
“I loved the topic, my dog now has a robust digestive system and rarely gets ill. And yet here I am, still taking the courses.
“What I found was that it was difficult to get independent advice, there really are very few canine nutritionists.
“I learnt that with my business coaching skills, I can have conversations with the owners helping them decide how they want to feed their dogs based on their lifestyle and then from there build a decent diet for their dogs.”
Tara enlisted the help of Mickleover artist Julie Craig to design products to sell through her business.
Tara describes the business as the Etsy of the dog world, giving independent traders a place to list their products and services, with all profits going to buy dog food for food banks.
Julie said: “It’s wonderful to be able to help make a difference to pets who are loved but whose owners are facing hard times, to help keep them together where they belong.”
And while the business struggled to hit the ground running due to the pandemic, Spirit’s Community has since seen increasing numbers of customers and traders.
Tara said: “It took us about six months to get ourselves off the ground.
“January lockdown gave us further challenges. However, we have a solid foundation and we are delighted that the business has longevity and is growing in customers across the country.
“We are truly a community company supporting dogs from so many sides.
“I think we are different as we are not a shop that sells goods for profit, we are a shop that supports owners, food banks, people who are suffering hardship, and small businesses who sell dog related goods and services.”
We realised that people were being forced to make difficult choices of feeding themselves or their beloved dogs. Tara Paonessa