At the Animal Protective Foundation (APF), we are committed to keeping pets with the people who love them, including those who have fallen on hard times due to losing a job or other unforeseen challenges.
Especially during the holidays, we see an uptick in families who are struggling to keep their pets with them and healthy.
As part of our Pet Safety Net initiative, the APF is committed to improving the wellbeing of the most vulnerable pets in our community. The cornerstone of this effort is our Community Pet Food Pantry. The program offers food and limited supplies for both cats and dogs for families in a time of need. The Pantry program is offered as a temporary hand up to those in need for a six-month period for up to three pets in the household. Our goal is to offer assistance to enable families to provide nutritious food and keep them in their homes instead of surrendering them to our shelter.
And the need is great – as evidenced by our nearly empty Pantry shelves. During the holiday season, we are assisting dozens of families every week and some weeks we provide more than 500 lbs. of pet food.
Like our shelter animals, the Pet Food Pantry depends entirely upon the generosity of the animal-loving community’s donations. The simplest way to support the Pet Food Pantry is to purchase needed items from our Amazon and Chewy wish lists which are accessible at www.animalprotective.org/wish.
If you’d prefer to drop off items, the highest priority needs for the Pantry include:
- non-clumping cat litter
- dog/cat wet and dry food
- “mom and baby” wet food
- small animal food and chew toys
- Timothy Hay
- Soft dog treats
- Pill pockets
- Gift cards to pet stores, grocery, Target, and Walmart (for APF to purchase hard-to-find items)
To help fill our Pantry shelves and keep pets in their loving homes with their families, the Animal Protective Foundation will be holding a special Holiday Community Pet Food Pantry Drive at our shelter located at 53 Maple Avenue in Glenville. Drop-off times are between 8am and 4pm through Tuesday, December 23rd. We also have bins at the shelter entrance to collect donated items after hours. The shelter is open Tuesday through Saturday 12-4:30 pm if you are interested in making a food or financial donation to support the APF and you can visit our wonderful adoptable pets who are hoping to be in homes for the holidays.
We greatly appreciate your support of the most vulnerable animals in our community.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact us at chronicles@animalprotective.org or phone 518-374-3944.
Stephanie Johnson is the Chief Operations Officer and Debra Jennings is the Director of Shelter Operations of the Animal Protective Foundation.
APF contributes Animal Chronicles articles and welcomes animal-related questions and stories about the people and animals in our community. Visit animalprotective.org, follow us on social media @AnimalProtectiveFoundation or email chronicles@animalprotective.org.
