St. Joseph Animal Services optimistic revamped Pet Pantry program will benefit the community
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- The St. Joseph Animal Shelter's Pet Pantry program will be undergoing changes to provide additional resources to pet owners in need of assistance.
Previously, the Pet Pantry program was managed through an informal case-by-case basis where citizens struggling financially could receive pet food (dogs and cats) based on the Animal Services supply. Starting on Monday, Feb. 9, the program will be transitioning to a scheduled monthly drive-up format.
"The Pet Pantry program has been active for several years, but because of it's popularity and foot traffic it's brought to the shelter, we've decided to formalize the program to streamline it," Animal Services Manager Holly Bowie said. "It will be simpler for us to execute monthly versus trying to keep up on a daily basis."
Several factors came into play when making the transition, with a key one being how Animal Services can expand the assistance they provide to the community.
"I think it's going to provide assistance to more people in the community. We'll have a better idea of how much food we're giving out and we'll be able to track it more thoroughly with our software system," Bowie said. "We can track how many pounds of food we're giving out at each event."
Food mixtures will be given out while supplies last, with each person being limited to one food portion per pet with a maximum of three pets being eligible per household. Specific brands, flavors and types can't be requested as the food is distributed in mixtures.
The hope is the modified program will also increase the donations received, which could lead to pickups being more frequent and increased financial resources.
"Our hope is that we will at least be able to provide the services twice a month, but we wanted to start with a once a month to see how we're able to execute it," Bowie said." Based on our success, in the future we may be able to look at grants and other ways to fund the program."
The Pet Pantry will be open to the public on the second Monday of each month from 1 to 3 p.m. at St Joseph Animal Services located at 701 Southwest Lower Lake Road.
