RUFF GOING
MSPCA hosts pet food pantries as need roars during pandemic
Humans aren’t the only creatures in need this holiday season.
With food pantries continuing to face record demand as the coronavirus pandemic rages on, the MSPCA wants to make sure Fido and Whiskers are being taken care of, too.
The nonprofit animal protection agency held drive-through pet food pantries at its three adoption centers on Saturday, aiming to distribute 23,000 pounds of cat and dog food — enough for 230,000 meals — to pet owners through its adoption centers in Jamaica Plain, Methuen and on Cape Cod.
“What we’re seeing is not only massive food insecurity among people, but we’re absolutely seeing that shift onto pets,” MSPCA spokesman Rob Halpin told the Herald. “Never before in our history have we seen this much demand for subsidized pet food.”
The pallets of pet food being distributed on Saturday were donated in part by Hill’s Pet Nutrition, which has given thousands of pounds of food to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals this year, Halpin said. But they also came from generous pet owners, sometimes in honor of a pet who recently died.
“It’s very moving,” Halpin said.
The MSPCA set a goal of delivering 1 million meals to pet owners in need in 2020. A similar pet food pantry held in October on Cape Cod “exceeded even our own expectations” for need, Halpin said.
And the nonprofit has already delivered more than 64,000 pounds of cat litter to food pantries and pet owners, and provided subsidized medical care for more than 3,500 pets this year.
“The food pantries are one small way that the MSPCA can be there for animals,” Halpin said, “not just inside our shelter but beyond those four walls, too.”