A dumpster diver has shown the immense amount of food and supplies pet stores across the U.S. allegedly throw away regularly, revealing that she donates it all to pet shelters in need.
The woman describes herself as a "freegan" online, defined as a "person who rejects consumerism and seeks to help the environment by reducing waste, especially by retrieving and using discarded foods and other goods."
According to her, the U.S. has a huge problem with waste, and it doesn't begin and end with food. In fact, the dumpster diver shared in a recent video that she once found 78 bags of dog food in one dive. Although she doesn't have any pets, her mission is to save the produce and provide it to shelters nearby.
"It's actually kind of insane just how much pet food I've rescued over the past two years just from different pet store dumpsters," she said.
"These pet stores are well known in the diving community for throwing out thousands of pounds of pet food every single year. And I'm talking about each store throwing out thousands of pounds of pet food."
In the video, she showed piles of cans and bags of dog food in a dumpster, which she said were worth around $50 each. "The three unopened bags I found here retail for about $50 each and the most I've ever found at one time was 78 bags of dog food," she said.
"I found a dumpster full of doggy life jackets, over $250 worth of them, brand new," she added in a comment.
@dumpsterdivingfreegan Reply to @mitch_mckay & Lets not even bring up all the live animals that have been found in pet store dumpsters #dumpsterdiving #freegan #save #fypシ
♬ original sound - Dumpster Diving Freegan
Although she admitted that the food is often about to pass its "best by" date, it's usually still perfectly fine for pets to consume. "All of the shelters I donate to are always more than happy to accept the dog food that I find, even when it is past its 'best by' date," she explained.
The video can also be seen in full here.
In August, @dumpsterdivingfreegan said that she had not purchased any groceries in 16 months, "all because of dumpster diving."
"I've literally saved enough money to put 20 percent down on a home, I've never gotten sick, and I've eaten more organic food since doing this," she said.
Her most popular video showed a hail of $126.07 worth of food from a dumpster, including a 2-pound family-size pack of shrimp.
In October, PetSmart faced allegations from another dumpster diver on TikTok who claimed to have found a box of live hamsters thrown away behind one of its outlets in Pennsylvania.
The leading pet store chain confirmed it was investigating the allegations and performing a "review of the situation" after the viral video.
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