Almo Nature started collaborating with animal welfare organisation, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) in 2019 to support its Detection Dogs project in Benin. Our founder, Pier Giovanni Capellino explains the reason behind this partnership.
Why is Almo Nature/Fondazione Capellino so vested in wildlife and biodiversity conservation?
Pier Giovanni Capellino:
Almo Nature Benefit S.p.A. is a company owned by
Fondazione Capellino, an independent, non-profit philanthropic organisation acting to help protect biodiversity from three different angles: nature and its habitats, the human mind, and culture.
On 1 January 2018, after a long consideration that started back in 2013, my brother Lorenzo and I donated – or should I say, “returned” – all asset born from our work to the Fondazione: the entire property of Almo Nature and dedicating the profits generated from that day onwards, to the protection of biodiversity.
Following the 'economy of restitution' model, the Fondazione uses the profit generated by the sales of Almo Nature pet food to independently finance the projects implemented to achieve its goals. One of these projects, called '
Impact On Biodiversity', has among its objectives the protection of habitats and the species that inhabit them. This is why we have chosen to support
IFAW and its project, Detection Dogs Benin.
What made AN/FC choose IFAW?
PGC: IFAW is a reliable partner, seriously committed to the worldwide preservation of biodiversity. Their Detection Dogs project in Benin is a very concrete action, from which we expect results in the fight against poaching and smuggling. Here, we have been given the opportunity to support dogs who are tasked with the protection of other animals. This is something we can only do because of the dogs and cats who choose to eat our pet food that's made with high-quality ingredients: a circular and regenerative approach that is made possible by partnering with IFAW.
In future, we hope to increase our cooperation on other matters and objectives.
How is AN/FC supporting IFAW?
PGC: In this particular case, Fondazione Capellino does not intervene directly, but it supports the work in Benin through Almo Nature, which provides the Detection Dogs project in Benin with its HOLISTIC dry food for free. In concrete terms, this represents 600 grams (1.3 lbs) of food per day, to each of the 30 dogs, which in total is roughly 6,500 kilos (14,330 lbs) per year.
In addition, the logistics company DVS Italia is taking care of the transportation of these goods to Cotonou for free.
Image credit: © IFAW/Julien Gerard