With need greater than ever, organizations come together to create national pet food bank

A number of organizations, including one in northern Ontario, are joining a national initiative that aims to keep pet families together.

The National Pet Food Bank Program was born out of the COVID-19 pandemic by Humane Canada. The goal was to take stock of organizations that were providing emergency food to pet families.

"There wasn't a way for [organizations] to connect with each other. Not a way for donors who have food or money to be able to connect with these organizations or for folks who are interested in using a pet food bank," explained Barbara Cartwright, the CEO of Humane Canada.

As the cost of living soars and the effects of climate change cause the displacement of people and animals, Humane Canada said many are turning to food banks to help keep themselves and their beloved animals fed.

"Food costs are going up, vet care costs have skyrocketed, and even access to veterinarians is much more difficult. So we have all of these intersecting crises coming together that makes it very difficult for people to access the resources they need," said Cartwright.

Humane Canada said the goal of the network is to help people avoid pet relinquishment, which also helps to keep pressure off of services like animal shelters.

To keep up with demand and to grow the pet food bank network, Humane Canada has been distributing grants to organizations across the country.

The National Pet Food Bank Network's most recent grant cycle focused on northern, rural, and Indigenous-led programs that serve their communities through access to pet resources.

"We know that there's vulnerabilities in the North. And we wanted to make sure that we were able to reach out to and support those organizations that were already giving out food and the development of new food assistance programs," said Cartwright.

Thunder Bay organization creates network of support in the region

The Northern Reach Network knows about northern-specific vulnerabilities first-hand.

The Thunder Bay based organization works as a transportation organization that moves sick, injured or surrendered pets from remote northern locations to Thunder Bay, and sometimes through to other parts of the province.

Through the latest grant, the Northern Reach Network received over $5,000. Pamela Cowie, the grants and outreach volunteer with the organization said the grant will help to formalize services they already offer.

"Northern Reach has developed quite a network and because of that network we're the recipients of donations of food," explained Cowie. "We knew there was a huge need for the food, so the grant money is going to help us out. Just unbelievable support for us because we had no funding base to pay for the storage of the food in the past."

The Northern Reach Network said half of the grant money is going toward storage for pet food, with the other half supporting the purchasing and storage of supplies such as deworming medication or flea and tick medications.

Cowie said her organization is seeing an increasing demand due in part to a lack of vet access in northern communities. She said it's always been an issue, but the pandemic made the situation worse.

"The traveling veterinary teams that would go to these remote communities were all shut down. So now there is a huge overpopulation issue in many of the remote northern communities and we can only do so much to help move these animals out," said Cowie.

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"There's a great need for food to go to these communities to help feed the free roaming dogs and also to help the people that are struggling financially that really need some help to feed their pets and to be able to keep them part of their family."

In 2022, Northern Reach Network assisted over 1,400 dogs plus 200 cats. This year, the organization has already helped 46 dogs and 10 cats.

Cowie said moving forward the organization will provide access to pet food for anyone who may be in an emergency situation, adding they work closely with organizations like the Regional Food Distribution Association to help fill gaps in the north.

Moving forward, Humane Canada hopes to create an interactive map of the National Pet Food Bank partners.

Seven other organizations also received funding from Humane Canada and the National Pet Food Bank. Those locations span across the country, from northwestern Ontario to the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Victoria.