Nonprofit Organizations Help Feed Homeless Pets

Via Huffington Post - To help the estimated five to 10 percent of homeless people with pets, Pets of the Homeless recently teamed up with the South Lake Animal League of Groveland, Fla. The organizations distribute dog and cat food to local food pantries for the poor and homeless.

"It means they get to eat another meal, and their best buddy gets to have a healthy meal," said volunteer Paula Kane. "Because homeless people will go hungry before their dogs."

Some are skeptical as to why a person living on the streets should have a pet. But Kane, who helps feed the homeless, said many homeless people rely on their pets for protection and companionship.

Pets of the Homeless, which also awards grants to veterinarians who vaccinate and spay/neuter homeless pets, isn't the only nonprofit on a mission to nourish animals without a home.

The Doglando Foundation recently launched its Full Tummy Project, an initiative that bags pet food for the homeless and poverty stricken in East Orlando, Fla.

When food banks rejected Tom Wargo's idea to address pet hunger, the Georgia resident went on to start his own nonprofit, Daffy's Pet Soup Kitchen. His organization has since become one of the largest pet food banks in the country, providing 600,000 pounds of food last year for pets of the poor.

"The people that I was helping ... would bring the people food home and feed their animals with it," said Wargo. "They're not going to let their animals starve, they're not going to kill them at the pound, so they're going to feed them, just like if you have kids."

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Image by Dan Lee via Pets of the Homeless