Joomla Login LightBox powered by WowJoomla.com

While it may not fit the classic narrative, even pets are feeling the recession this year.

Since July, the Northland Pet Pantry has been handing out pet food and supplies for pet owners in need at its monthly distribution event at the Smithville United Methodist Church and in the last month demand at the event has exploded, said Gina Westpfahl, Northland Pet Pantry board member.

When the pantry began the Smithville event, Westpfahl said, they usually saw less than a dozen families come for supplies, but in October that number jumped to 12 and then nearly doubled in December to 22, also doubling the amount of dog and cat food they give away to nearly 600 pounds.

The jump in need, Westpfahl said, is probably a combination of the pressure of the holidays combined with the continuing pressure of the down job market.

“It’s a mixture of people struggling and Thanksgiving and the start of the Christmas season; people think, ‘oh, god, how are we going to do Christmas and feed the kids and feed the pets?’ And the need is going to keep going up.”

With the increase in need, Westpfahl said, the pantry is also unfortunately starting to see a decrease in their donations and the cat food supply is almost exhausted, although they have enough dog food to last a while.

“About this time we start to get real nervous about it, but when it looks like we won’t have enough, someone will give and I hope that continues,” she said.

If you want to donate pet food or supplies for the Smithville distribution events, you can drop them off at any one of five collection sites in the city listed on the group’s Web site at www.northlandpetpantry.com.

According to the Web site, all donations are tax deductible and the group accepts both dry and canned pet food as well as collars, leashes, cat litter and any other pet supplies. The group will also accept cash donations.

Pets’ needs often go overlooked, Westpfahl said, but as people struggle, so do their pets.

“People don’t think about it, but there’s just as much of a need for pets as there is for humans,” she said. “And for lots of people, their pets are the only people they see and the only thing they communicate with. We hear a lot of people say, ‘well, if you can’t afford a pet, you shouldn’t have one,’ but we don’t feel that way because a lot of these pets are family members.”

The next distribution event in Smithville is set for Saturday, Jan. 30, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Smithville United Methodist Church, 505 U.S. Highway 169.

In addition to the Smithville distribution event, the Northland Pet Pantry also holds distribution events in Riverside and Liberty.

FIND OUT MORE

If you want more information on how to donate or to participate in the distribution events for the Northland Pet Pantry, visit the group’s Web site at www.northlandpetpantry.com or call 272-8508.

Staff writer Michael Westblade can be reached at 389-6636 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed