I saw a posting about a Cincinnati pet food pantry http://www.cincinnatipetfoodpantry.com/ and though I am unaware of how many such organizations like this are out there think it is a fabulous idea. Buying the food and necessities they need for their pets is a big issue for many owners(especially in this economy), so many animals end up at the shelter because owners can’t afford them. Beyond being a horrible alternative for the family and pets, this is a horrible solution for society.
Shelters cost a lot of money to run, and they have to pay for food for the animals that are dropped of there anyway for at least some period of time; this seems like a cheaper alternative for society if executed right. It saves lives, helps owners, and may not even cost a lot more. We were thinking about it and don’t exactly know how this could be replicated on a large scale. Dog food banks are a great idea and they should be everywhere, although it seems hard to think about who would qualify and for how long. The alternative is stark. I am going to search around to see how many pet food pantries there are out there, see the different models, and see if we have any good ideas on it. Doubtful I realize, but it seems like a low-cost and efficient way to save more animals. At first glance, a pantry wouldn’t need to be open but once a week so there would be low overhead. It does not seem to me that you would even need a fulltime location-shelters could even offer this service. I read articles about shelters helping out certain owners or homeless people with pets and I am sure there are reasons others than money this isn’t done at shelters, but I will have to read more about this before I understand why. It just seems that with the goal being to save animals’ lives, keeping animals out of shelters should be the first goal. This seems like a great organization and I am sure there are more like it.