'Theft of donations' means Animals in Need forced to close their zero waste table

Animals in Need in Donegal Town have been forced to discontinue their zero waste table due "to theft of donations".

In a zero waste system, all materials are reused until the optimum level of consumption is reached. Zero waste refers to waste prevention.

"If you have donations for the shop, please aim to drop them off between 11am-4pm, Tuesday to Saturday, during opening hours," Animals in Need, based at the car park, posted. "Our drop-off unit outside the shop is only for anyone who can't make it during this time. Our zero waste table has been discontinued due to theft of donations."

This followed on from a post last week which read: "Due to a small number of people 'liberating' items left as out-of-hours donation for us to sell rather than the items left out on the Zero Waste Table, we have decided to only use the unit for out-of-hours donations to avoid any confusion. Extra CCTV will also be added to the area.

"It is sad that people are steeping as low as stealing from a charity. A charity that looks after the voiceless and most vulnerable in our communities - the stray, abandoned, and injured animals. Not only have we observed people stealing donations, but we have been told they have pretended to be AIN shop volunteers to take donations from people. Our shop volunteers have AIN lanyards so are easily recognised.

"The people in question are banned from the shop and CCTV and photos will be handed to the gardai. Donations are left to raise money for the care of the animals. Many people enjoyed our Zero Waste Table, and we are sad to see a few people ruining it for the whole community."