Home » Archives for feeding homeless pets

Dog Food Action Helps Families Feed Pets

April 14th, 2010

Smiley is awaiting adoption at the HSGKC

Roxanne over at Dog Food Dish declared today Dog Food Action Day, a day to purchase or pick up dog food (or any pet food) and take it to your community food bank or pantry so that families who are having a rough time feeding their human families can also feed their pet family members.

Roxanne posted, “Imagine the good we could do, the worry we could relieve, and the impact we could have … if everyone reading this Dog Food Dish post donated dog food or cat food to their local community action center or food bank.”

Coincidently, on Tuesday, Anthony Holloway, who sponsors the K9 Cuisine blogs donated and shipped 5,000 pounds of pet food to the Humane Society of Greater Kansas City. That organization, located in the poorest county in Kansas, has had it’s hands full trying to keep pets in their homes in these tough economic times. Often times, a representative told me, people feel they have to give up their pets because they simply cannot afford to feed them. The humane society is asking more questions of people before they relinquish their pets. If they want to keep their 4-legged family members, they are trying to help them by providing some food.

Robin at the humane society brought tears to my eyes telling me what happened to 3 bags of that dog food that was sent by K9 Cuisine:

“A man we work with here has 3 dogs and he called last week and said he was having a rough time, he had just lost his job. He wanted to keep his dogs, but he didn’t have any money to feed them. I told him to come on up, but at the time, we only had one small bag of food, maybe enough for a week. I felt terrible. But on Tuesday, we were able to call him and tell him we had put back 3 large bags of food for his dogs from this shipment. The man said he felt embarrassed to be asking for dog food, but he is trying to be a responsible pet owner and keep his dogs with him. It really made me feel good to be able to make that call and help him and his 3 dogs.”

The humane society kept what they could store for the animals in their shelter, as well as for more needy families. They distributed the rest to 4 other rescues and shelters in the Kansas City area.

I’m sure there are many pets with full tummies and families feeling some relief from the constant financial strain this week thanks to Anthony’s generous donation. Anthony didn’t do it for recognition or kudos. He had no idea of Roxanne’s planned initiative, nor had no idea we would blog about it. He told me the other night, “I feel truly blessed to be in a position to help animals that are in need. To me, getting the food to people that are struggling is a double win. We help the people that are truly grateful and it keeps dogs out of rescue or worse.”

You don’t need to own a pet food distribution company to help. Here’s how you can contribute:

• Read Roxanne’s blog, follow the links to find a food pantry or shelter near you that will distribute food to needy families. Purchase just one bag (or more if you can) and deliver the food to the pantry or shelter in your own community. Short on time? No worries, just go to K9 Cuisine and purchase a bag and have it shipped to your local organization.
• Having a hard time yourself? That’s ok, you can help without spending any money. Call your local food pantry or shelter and see if you can offer to call some local feed, farm and home, pet food supply stores or big box retailers and see if they will allow you to pick up their torn bags or outdated pet food and deliver them to the charity of your choice. My husband was recently told by his boss to destroy 40 bags of pet food because they were outdated. My guess is that she wasn’t aware that she could donate the food because no one has asked for it.
• Volunteer at your local food pantry or shelter. The Humane Society of Greater Kansas City couldn’t have accepted that large shipment the other day without the help of their dedicated volunteers, who unloaded the pallets of food from the delivery truck. You can help a pantry or shelter in your area by volunteering.

Let’s help keep pets in their homes!

I would like to find at least 10 people willing to Tweet about this project and post it to your other social media sites. Please tell us in the comments section that you’re committed to Dog Food Action and what you can do to help spread the word!

Bookmark It

Tags: dog food action day, feeding homeless pets, helping needy families feed their pets
Posted in K9 Rescue | 7 Comments »