ASPCA providing help to pet owners struggling in pandemic
Early in May, Nydia Bonefont was concerned when her dog wouldn’t eat and seemed lethargic. She realized that Papi, a 9-year-old Beagle/ Cavalier mix, must have hurt himself — he cried when he was touched.
But she was without income to pay for vet care.
“I lost my job a while ago, and then the pandemic started,” she says. “I went in March to see the doctor for very bad bronchitis and asthma, and he said that I have to stay home because I was high-risk.”
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has a clinic in her Brooklyn, New York, neighborhood where she had taken Papi before. She got him some pain medication and free dog food there, and after a few days he was his old self again, running and playing with her son.
Many pet owners are finding themselves in financial straits during the pandemic. At the same time, there’s a growing recognition among animal welfare organizations that to help animals, they need to help struggling pet owners.
“Increasing access to health care and critical resources for pets that are living in poverty is the best way to keep pets out of the shelter,” says Matt Bershadker, president and CEO of the ASPCA. “If we can provide those services, we can keep animals in a home where they’re bonded and loved.”
Bershadker said the need is rising: “We estimate that another 4.2 million pets will likely enter poverty over the next six months as a result of the COVID-19 crisis and the ensuing economic fallout. That’s a 21 percent increase in the number of pets living in poverty, bringing that to about
24.4 million pets living in poverty.”
Since it was launched in March, the ASPCA’S $5 million COVID-19 Relief & Recovery Initiative has provided $2 million in grant funding and set up new pet-food distribution centers in Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Asheville, N.C., and other cities. It has helped more than 268,000 dogs, cats and horses nationwide nad distributed about 1,800 tons of food.