New Zealand pet food factory closes smelly plant

Large quantities of offal were used in the pet food canning operation, but the stench got so unbearable during a six-week period before and after Christmas that it was almost unbearable for people in neighbouring businesses to continue working.

 

Lovitt’s had been trading in receivership for over a year and closed its doors a month ago after the pet food operation was sold to an Australian competitor.

 

Lovitt’s had been a large supplier of canned pet food to Coles and Woolworths supermarkets in Australia.

 

It is understood the manufacturing machinery was being dismantled and shipped to Australia, with job offers to engineering staff prepared to cross the Tasman Sea.

 

The smell problem had been caused by the way manufacturing waste had been stored outside. Instead of being stored in properly sealed bins, it had been stored in skip bins with drainage holes, and not collected on a regular basis.

 

Liquid from the drainage holes leaked into the site’s water disposal system, together with some waste from the factory.

 

It was said that a new pet food business would start up but not as a canning factory.