Minimag Pet Pandemic Issue 2021

animal loneliness

alt.cardiff

the pet pandemic

time

issue one / january 2021

issue one // january 2021

news // alt.cardiff

food

business

Hub Box launches first Welsh location partnered with Tiny Rebel Brewery

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ornish burger chain Hub Box launched their first Welsh location in Cardiff last Monday 9 November, partnered with local beer company Tiny Rebel Brewery.

Hub Box’s latest site adds to the growing list of redevelopment within Cardiff Bay’s Mermaid Quay.

The company, founded in 2012, has 8 locations across the South West of England, specialising in burgers and hand-cut chips.

Within their burgers, they exclusively use 21-day dry aged beef from a supplier on the border of Cornwall and Devon. For non-meat eaters, they also have a range of different options, including falafel, halloumi and plant-based burgers.

Notably, CEO and founder of Hub Box Richard Boon, spoke of how the “Welsh roots run deep” within the company, citing that his wife grew up within Cwmbran.

Further cementing their ties to the city, Hub Box are equally taking advantage of existing local producers, partnering up with South Walian brewery Tiny Rebel.

Tiny Rebel, also founded in 2012, are known across Wales for their awardwinning range of beers, all made in their brewery in Newport.

Brad Cummings, founder and of Tiny Rebel said: “We have been huge fans of Hub Box and their approach to venues that welcome family and friends. It’s an absolute pleasure to work alongside them as one of their chosen suppliers for their first venue in Wales.”

Within Hub Box, they plan on rotating a range of IPAs and New England IPAs behind the bar.

Cardiff Record Exchange opens its doors to vinyl lovers of Cathays in time for Christmas

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s vinyl sales reach record levels, a new shop dedicated to selling LPs has opened on Whitchurch Road in Cathays.

Cardiff Record Exchange opened its doors for the first time last Friday hoping to catch the Christmas gift shopping crowds.

According to a recent report by the Guardian, vinyl sales are set to hit their highest level in three decades.

Many speculate that music fans who have been unable to spend money seeing their favourite artists live have reinvested that money into purchasing physical media.

Edward Daw, owner of Cardiff Record Exchange and Cardiff native, said: “I wouldn’t have been able to open the shop if it wasn’t for the ridiculous growth in popularity of vinyl.”

He also added that while the quantity of records sold is increasing, the value of older items that would have sold for £1 four years ago are now selling upwards of £10.

After retiring from his job with the NHS, Edward had been selling vinyls at record fairs and pop up events. However, in light of numerous lockdowns, most of his regular business had been cancelled.

Since last April, vinyl sales have grown 250% Photo: Mick Haupt via Unsplash

Warped Plans While events had dropped off, he had equally been selling a few records through Pop‘n’Hops, a craft beer and record shop. And, with Pop’n’Hops vacating their shop for a new premises two doors down, their owner Trevor suggested that Edward took the unit.

Edward also noted the time elapsed to get the store running, saying: “Sorting, collecting and cleaning has taken endless days of hard work.”

The store will also be operating with specific measures in place to reduce the potential spread of coronavirus. Only 4 customers will be allowed in at one time, as well as each LP being shielded within a plastic sleeve.

The shop will be open every Tuesday to Saturday from 10:30am-6pm.

Josh Ong

Record fairs were valuable business prior to Covid-19.

Photo: Annie Theby via Unsplash

Josh Ong

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news // alt.cardiff

issue one // january 2021

From Noodling to Noodles:

How Matsudai Ramen kept delivering the goods over lockdown

Photo: Jamie Allen

James Chant, founder of Wales’s only ramen joint, chats about delivering his business to customers after lockdown halted his restaurant plans

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ames Chant founded Matsudai Ramen to resolve a creative itch that needed scratching.

After turning 40, moving house, and getting married all within a short space of time, James knew he wanted a change of direction in life.

Speaking about it, James said: “I got into a really dark place with it one day.

I hit rock bottom. I knew I needed to do something creative, I just wasn’t sure what that was.”

Now, just a year after its anniversary, he has navigated Wales’ only ramen joint successfully through the coronavirus pandemic where much of the hospitality sector has suffered.

Adapting from a sit-down experience to preparing heat-athome fresh and frozen DIY kits to supply residents of Cardiff and South Wales with noodles, James has been able to deliver his goods without compromising quality, or safety.

Having previously visited Japan on tour, James found himself fascinated by the nation’s culture and food. Although he admitted to have not having eaten a bowl of ramen while there.

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atsudai’s first public venture came through a series of popups at Cardiff venue Blue Honey last September.

James had clearly tapped into something unique, as each night sold out within hours. “The pop-ups were going crazy. We had offers of investment,” he said, adding: “People really attached themselves to it.”

Then, after just a few weeks into a planned six-week takeover, the first national lockdown in March brought Matsudai to a screeching halt.

However, where most restaurants were forced to shut for the foreseeable future, Matsudai already had a contingency in place.

James Chant

interview // alt.cardiff

James had already been supplying DIY kits to his friends before the popups began.

From there he simply scaled up the business for public consumption as it was the “obvious thing to do.”

“We were really lucky,” he noted. As Matsudai was still within its infancy when lockdown began, they were not tied down by having to to retrofit existing premises.

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owever, while James is thankful for the kits keeping his business alive, it’s far from his ultimate goal.

“The hours are crazy, there’s grease everywhere a lot of the time. I’m interested in a bit of that, but I don’t want that being my life,” he laughed.

“You spend some time cooking, but you spend a lot of time putting things in bags and cardboard boxes.”

Currently, he operates the business out of aunit within Taff ’s Well, where all of the preparation for the ramen kits and pop-up nights is done.

He believes that ramen remains underrepresented across the UK; something he’d like to change. He said: “I’m really interested in spreading the word as authentically as I can, and as faithfully as I can.”

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issue one // january 2021

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A pet pandemic: the rising threat of an animal mental health crisis in the wake of Covid-19 Pet adoption soared across Wales and the UK as the coronavirus pandemic caused a mental health crisis, but now it’s animals who are suffering the most

Words by Josh Ong

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hen 2020 forced everyone into reclusion, the country faced a mental health crisis. People flocked to various methods to keep themselves afloat. From balcony singalongs to Thursday night rounds of applause, there was one coping mechanism that proved more popular than most: pets.

At the very start of the Covid-19 lockdown measures, the picture looked particularly bleak. A quarter of the population were feeling lonely, and with no reason to leave the house anymore, many struggled with feelings of purposelessness and a lack of responsibility. To remedy this, a lot of people turned to animals.

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The advantages of owning a pet during the initial period for improving and stabilising mental health were well found. A recent study that questioned UK pet-owning residences about the role of their animal during the coronavirus pandemic found that 95 percent of owners couldn’t have imagined living without their animal at that time 87 percent of respondents also stated their animal was providing support to help them through Covid-19 emotionally.

As mainstream media and the masses caught on to the advantages of owning pets during lockdown, requests to adopt and purchase animals soared.

Many Tears Rescue, who operates out of Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, specialises in rehoming animals from breeders that are deemed too old to be of use. The organisation has noticed an unprecedented rise in requests to adopt dogs. Sylvia Van Etta, CEO of the centre, said: “We’re getting hundreds of applications every day. It’s just a crazy situation. Everybody thinks they need a dog now.”

Pandemic pups Her most distressing observation, however, has come through the number of dogs that have been given up by owners whose mental health has deteriorated. “We’ve had more dogs this year than all of the years I have ever worked from people who have committed suicide, all local to South Wales,” she declared distressingly.

Additionally, Hope Rescue has noticed a rise in those who are having to give away their animals for financial reasons as a consequence of the economic downturn of the coronavirus pandemic. Pets are expensive, after all.

In April, national charity Dog’s Trust warned up to 40,000 dogs could be at risk of abandonment following Covid-19. Their report outlines the potential repercussions of national economic downturn on dog ownership.

Particularly, if the following year mirrors the 2008 financial crisis, dog euthanasia rates could rise by as high as 25 percent.

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issue one // january 2021

Marcus Winkler via Unsplash

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Many dogs adopted at the start of the pandemic have found themselves back where they started

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issue one // january 2021

Gabriella Claire Marino via Unsplash

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Lacking support However, for many, the greatest concern is the poor mental health of the UK’s population being paralleled in the health of their animals in light of more animals being back in shelters.

And, despite the relative recency of events and restrictions surrounding Covid-19, rescue centres are already witnessing its effect.

A recent report by Battersea Dogs and Cats Home found veterinary visits have declined 80-90 percent since April, creating a situation in which pets’ medical needs are also not being seen.

“We’re starting to see dogs around the 10-11 month mark, acquired at the start of the pandemic, come into shelters. These animals are struggling as they haven’t had access to the correct resources and services,” Sarah commented.

Similarly, a Spanish study in April into altered animal behaviour as a result of Covid-19 found the shift in more irritable animals may be a signal of “early indicators of more serious future behavioural problems.”

Between ongoing social distancing protocols, discontinued services and limited socialisation, there lies a danger that many pets are not getting access to the emotional fulfilment they require.

Sylvia from Many Tears has reported similar numbers. While there are less strays being taken in, she spoke of an unparalleled number of animals from unwell households, or families who cannot meet the needs of their pet anymore.

Now, as are vaccines approved, the coronavirus looks to have a foreseeable demise. Regular human interaction looks to return, and the feelings of loneliness and isolation will fade for most.

Yet, there’s no easy solution to this issue. “Unfortunately, it’s rescues who face the brunt of it,” Sarah admitted.

This is only worsened by most rescue centres reorting over 50 percent loss in income, while animals re-entering their shelters have doubled.

As humans return to their nine-tofive jobs, animal mental health is only decaying further as issues of separation anxiety become far more prevalent than they already are.

While we took to animals to help us through Covid-19, it’s clear that it’s now the pets who are most in need of our assistance.

Rising Rates •

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• Ying Ge via Unsplash

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Hope Rescue has seen applications more than double that of previous year, over 3,600 applications since the first national lockdown Between April, when the first lockdown was announced, and July, there was a 166% increase in the number of searches to ‘buy a puppy’ A recent study in Israel found that 8% of new dog owners stated they felt lonely and/or stressed and believed that owning a dog might help, with 9.3% hearing about dog abandonment in the media and felt adopting was the right thing to do Across the whole UK, dog imports rose by 94% to match demand

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