Page 23 - PET worldwide issue 04/2021

When the weather

goes mad

Severe storms and flooding in the USA, Germany, Netherlands
and the UK during July and August also affected the pet sup-

plies industry.

Following the heavy rainfall and Germany hit hard the usual short time. Most forward-
flooding which left many dead in Near the border with the Benelux ing agencies were also unable to
Germany, the severe weather re- countries, a flood destroyed nu- reach the company for several
turned to areas of Belgium, parts merous villages and swamped days. Furthermore, the company’s
of London and New York and districts in Germany. The pet shop shop is said to have been affected
other areas in the USA. Philadel- chain Fressnapf alone reported at by the flood.
phia was inundated by floodwa- least 18 locations affected by the
ters as Storm Ida left a trail of de- flood, some of which suffered se- A wave of solidarity
struction in the Mid-Atlantic. vere water damage. Sagaflor and To stand by victims of the floods,
In the Belgian town of Dinant, Futterhaus also reported affected several relief campaigns were
countless cars were washed partner businesses. set in motion. The Fressnapf in-
away, while the town of Namur In Geilenkirchen, the produc- itiative “Tierisch engagiert”, for
in the province of the same name tion facility and the Hommersche example, set up a donation fund
and other towns and villages were Mühle satellite warehouse of Par- and paid in 25 000 euros. Many
also flooded. Landslides were re- rot Paradise Wagner were flooded other pet shops in non-affected
ported in Walloon- Brabant, south over an area of about 2 000 m². areas started relief campaigns
of Brussels. As in Germany, the The pet food manufacturer Pro for the victims in the flooded
catastrophic weather in Belgium Pet, based in Kall, reported on its areas. DIY stores distributed
resulted in deaths. No news was website in mid-July that the com- donations of materials and of-
available as to whether compa- pany could only be reached by tel- fered discounts on their product
nies in the pet supplies sector had ephone to a limited extent and that ranges to help people rebuild
been affected, but Tom & Co. in e-mails could not be answered in their homes. n
Namur offered assistance on so-
cial media to pet owners affected
by the flooding.
Storms and torrential rainfall
also created traffic chaos in Lon-
don. A number of roads, tube sta-
tions and a tunnel were closed
due to flooding, as reported by
the BBC among other media out-
lets. The Docklands Light Rail- Photo: Thomas Oettinger, Pixabay
way station in Stratford, east
London, was submerged under
floodwater.

PET worldwide 4|2021 23

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