salt lake city (ABC4) — Rough Heaven Crisis Sheltering recognizes record demand for pet food pantries. They posted online earlier this week. Since January, requests for pet food have been pouring in.
“We've seen news articles about human food reserves increasing as well since January,” said Christina Pulsifer, co-executive director of Laugh Haven. She said: “It is neither unusual nor surprising that what we are seeing with food insecurity in pets is consistent with food insecurity in humans – they are often exactly the same. ”
The nonprofit organization hosts Pet Pantry adoptions on the first and third Thursday of each month and asks people to fill out the paperwork below. online form Prepare what you need in advance.
“Our goal is to keep pets and their people together and prevent them from entering overcrowded shelters even though they already have loving families. There's no reason for that to happen,” Pulsifer said.
She said the pet food pantry receives about 300 requests in the weeks between one pick-up and the average is closer to 175. crisis evacuation programWe provide temporary storage for dogs and cats.
Pulsifer said part of the reason for this influx could be due to the rising cost of living, the end of coronavirus relief benefits, and rising prices affecting both human and pet food.
“We're definitely seeing a trend in the need for pet food and other services because of the rising costs of housing, food, gas, etc.,” she said.
Some of the things Pulsifers need most are dry cat food and wet dog food.People can donate through Ruff Haven online wish list Or send your donation to: their site.
Ryan DeGray, Special Programs Coordinator Salt Lake County Animal Servicessaid pet food pantries have also seen an increased need since January. He said the cost of living has been factored into overall increases over time, but in the past few months, the end of the holiday season could also play a role.
Salt Lake County Animal Services Host pet crew pantry Pick up once a month on Saturday.They each collect donations independently. position and, Utah Humane Society. DeGray said their shelter is in greatest need of dry dog food donations.
As demand increases, it can be difficult to know how much food will be needed for transportation, he said.
So far this year, the Pet Pantry line has averaged 71 cars for pickup, DeGray said. Before January, there were nearly 50 cars on monthly pickups, he said.
“If we're distributing 40 to 50 bags of food and we have more than 60 people, we might have to turn people away and we don't want to do that.” Mr. DeGray said.
He said Salt Lake County Animal Services started the pantry four years ago to help people feed their pets and keep them together rather than being rehomed.
“We are starting to see an upward trend starting in 2024,” he said. “…It’s still early in the year, but let’s see what March brings.”
This month's Pet Crew Pantry will be available for pickup on March 23rd.Learn more about how to donate to Salt Lake County Animal Services Website.
