[Vision2020] The cupboard was bare

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The cupboard was bare

Pet-food pantries are doggedly working to keep animals from being abandoned or going hungry during tough times


By Sharon L. Peters Special for
USA TODAY 

Animal lovers are marshaling forces in hopes of minimizing the number of pets that go hungry or land in shelters because their owners can no longer afford to feed them.

Free pet-food pantries are being established in cities and towns across the nation by volunteers concerned about the recession's effect on pets. And the long lines of pet owners showing up by the thousands for free kibble are growing more diverse each week. Lower-income people are now joined by middle-class folks pummeled by the economy: white-collar workers recently laid off; elderly people who had been receiving regular cash from relatives who can't afford that anymore; military spouses unable to find work to earn some discretionary income; students who've lost their part-time jobs; high-earners with high debt who are dramatically downshifting.

"Some (clients) are a little embarrassed, but everyone can have a financial problem, especially in this economy, and that's why we're here," says Atlanta businesswoman Ann King, who launched Save Our Pets food bank this year after hearing of hundreds of pets being abandoned or left at Atlanta-area shelters because owners were in financial straits. Demand has grown 20% every week since the food bank began last summer, she says; now the group gives away more than 3,000 pounds of cat and dog food a week. On distribution days, as many as 200 people line up for a month's supply of pet food.

"A lot of the people we serve are right on the edge. They barely missed getting food stamps or have a new job starting in a few weeks or they're waiting for government assistance," says Darlene McCaslin, who started Pikes Peak Pet Pantry in Colorado Springs last year. "If we can help during this awful period, it helps them keep a pet dear to them, it helps the animals and it helps the shelters seeing a big increase in the numbers coming in."

Since January, McCaslin's group has distributed more than 11,000 pounds of dog and cat food to owners of more than 1,800 pets.

"It means the world to me," says Rose Laxson of Colorado Springs. "When feeding yourself is uncertain, it is so comforting to know you can feed your pet." Laxson, who has an English bulldog named Elmo, recently received her nursing-assistant certification. But she's eight months pregnant, and until she gives birth and gets a job, she's living with her parents and scraping by.

Pet food banks - operated by local animal shelters or groups of animal lovers - employ a variety of means to gather food or the money to buy it. Most get donations from retailers of torn bags of food or dented cans; some have lined up pet-loving sponsors such as veterinarians who place donation boxes in their offices; most have beat the bushes for citizen donations that they use to buy pet food from retailers at a discount.

Most pet owners discover the whereabouts of local pet food banks by contacting animal shelters, traditional food banks or other social service organizations. But many who newly need help have little or no familiarity with social-service networks and aren't sure where to turn. McCaslin has posted contact numbers for nearly 30 pet food banks across the nation on her website (pikespeakpetpantry.org), an action she took after being contacted by hundreds of needy pet owners.

There does not appear to be any national clearinghouse or list to guide pet owners to the nearest temporary-food distributor, according to several national and regional pet-welfare groups. The Humane Society of the United States, when contacted, said creating a national list is an "overlooked" but "definite" need and this week put online a preliminary list that will be added to regularly (visit HSUS.org and click on "pet tips").

Atlanta's Save our Pets also is compiling a state-by-state list to post on its website (saveourpetsfoodbank.org) by January.

Many hope the economy's meltdown will educate the public about a reality that shelters and rescue groups have long dealt with: Pets are usually the first casualty when a family's finances go bad. The Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society in South Deerfield, Mass., serving the state's lowest-income county, realized years ago that temporary pet assistance was vital and set up a pet food bank. It has seen a 25% increase in demand in recent months. "But," says executive director Leslie Harris, "the fact is, the economy is always bad for someone."
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