DAYTON -- Food stamps for pets! It's a new reality for low-income families across the Buckeye State and the entire country.
When many of these dogs and cats, arrive at the Humane Society of Greater Dayton, they're malnourished. Former owners are unable to properly care for them because of a job loss or some other financial issue. That was the case with one shelter volunteer's adopted dog, Boise.
"A lot of people can't afford to feed their pets so they bring them here. They drop the dogs off at the Humane Society of abandon them at the park," said Butch Richardson of Dayton.
A non-profit program, called Pet Food Stamps, aims to help low-income families, nationwide, currently having problems keeping the kibble-bowl full.
Pet food stamp recipients, and their owners, do have to meet certain income qualifications just like government food stamps, except the pet program is not funded by tax dollars. It's fueled by donations from animal lovers, like Liane Higgins of Springboro.
"If someone has already had a pet and they've fallen on hard times, they should be able to feed their pets," she said.
If you want to sign up for the program, go to www.petfoodstamps.org and put in all your information. Keep in mind, it may take up to three weeks for someone with the program to contact you because so many people have already signed up. In fact, the first few times we tried visiting the site, it was down because too much online traffic was clogging the server.
"There is no doubt there is a need to this. We see it on a regular basis that people have pets they're trying to care for and they're having trouble caring for their own families," said Brian Weltge, director of the Humane Society.
Like many animal shelters, the Humane Society gives free pet food to those in need, but they can only help, when the donation bin is stocked, which isn't all the time.
"People shouldn't have to give up their furry family members because of acute circumstances in their life where they're having trouble affording food," Weltge said.
Families receiving pet food stamps will get monthly deliveries for up to six months, or until donations run out.
When many of these dogs and cats, arrive at the Humane Society of Greater Dayton, they're malnourished. Former owners are unable to properly care for them because of a job loss or some other financial issue. That was the case with one shelter volunteer's adopted dog, Boise.
"A lot of people can't afford to feed their pets so they bring them here. They drop the dogs off at the Humane Society of abandon them at the park," said Butch Richardson of Dayton.
A non-profit program, called Pet Food Stamps, aims to help low-income families, nationwide, currently having problems keeping the kibble-bowl full.
Pet food stamp recipients, and their owners, do have to meet certain income qualifications just like government food stamps, except the pet program is not funded by tax dollars. It's fueled by donations from animal lovers, like Liane Higgins of Springboro.
"If someone has already had a pet and they've fallen on hard times, they should be able to feed their pets," she said.
If you want to sign up for the program, go to www.petfoodstamps.org and put in all your information. Keep in mind, it may take up to three weeks for someone with the program to contact you because so many people have already signed up. In fact, the first few times we tried visiting the site, it was down because too much online traffic was clogging the server.
"There is no doubt there is a need to this. We see it on a regular basis that people have pets they're trying to care for and they're having trouble caring for their own families," said Brian Weltge, director of the Humane Society.
Like many animal shelters, the Humane Society gives free pet food to those in need, but they can only help, when the donation bin is stocked, which isn't all the time.
"People shouldn't have to give up their furry family members because of acute circumstances in their life where they're having trouble affording food," Weltge said.
Families receiving pet food stamps will get monthly deliveries for up to six months, or until donations run out.