Jul 24, 2008 7:11 pm US/Eastern
Consumer Report: Owners Must Leave Pets Behind
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Food banks have been running overtime lately to keep up with demand. However, one member of the family has largely been forgotten: the family pet.
"It's breaking my heart having to give them up, but I think it's the best thing to do," says single dad Ron Huber of his dogs.
Huber has been put in the unthinkable position of choosing between feeding his kids or his pets. He sees giving up his animals as his last, and only choice.
Meanwhile, animal shelters across the country are overcrowded with families giving back the animals they can no longer afford to feed or care for.
Dr. Karen Dashfield, a veterinarian in Sussex County, New Jersey, has been working with a group of volunteers and local businesses to stockpile dog and cat food at the Newton food pantry since March.
"We've been bringing over a couple hundred pounds a week," she says, "to have to make a decision to give away a pet for lack of $10 a week to feed the pet has got to be devastating."
Across the nation, the number of families seeking to feed their pets with help from a food pantry has jumped more than 50% since last year.
Carol Novrit is with the county's Social Services division and has watched the food supply dwindle in her pantry as a result of increasing demand from families, many of whom would not be usual clients.
"Now working people, professional people, [people with] college diplomas, are using food pantries on a regular basis," Novrit says. "Families are making a choice: 'Do I feed my family, my pets, or do I pay my housing costs?'"
But for now, with the help of neighbors in Sussex County, neither man nor beast goes hungry. Also, with the economy leaving many to make difficult choices between food and other bills, families might be surprised to learn they are eligible for additional assistance in the form of food stamps.
For more information use the following resources:
Sussex Co. Contact Information Food Stamp Assistance NY Food Banks NJ Food Banks
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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