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Pet Over Population Prevention is creating a pet pantry in the Tri-Cities to serve as a pet food food bank for families who can?t afford to feed their pets. The group is accepting pet food donations and looking for more donation locations and a space to set up the actual pantry. Pictured is POPP?s donation box at Full Throttle Motorcycle in Kennewick, next to Lola, the store mascot.
?By Elena Olmstead for TCAJoB
In the lackluster economy, many families are forced to choose between feeding their families or feeding their pets.
The decision is obvious, but a local nonprofit pet rescue group is hoping to help families in that situation be able keep and take care of their furry friends, as well.
Molli Van Dorn, founder and president of Pet Over Population Prevention said she has seen an increase in the number of people who have to make the gut wrenching decision to give their family pets up for adoption because they can no longer afford to feed them. Although there are programs in place to help struggling families get the food they need, there is no such help for pets.
Van Dorn and the rest of her POPP volunteers, are trying to create a a food bank for pets.
?Our experience has been that a lot of people would relinquish their pets to us because they don?t have the money feed their pets,? Van Dorn said. ?If we could provide them with food, maybe they?d be able to keep their pets in their home.?
That?s why POPP?s pet pantry program was established in December.
Van Dorn said POPP has placed pet food donation bins at several businesses around the Tri-Cities. The bins have a sign on the front that tells a little bit about the pet pantry project and asks people to leave a pet food donation. Volunteers regularly check the boxes to collect the donated pet food.
Van Dorn is looking for more businesses willing to help collect donations, as well as a place for the pet pantry to set up shop. She said POPP is seeking a small, donated space where the pet food could be stored and opened up a few days a week for people who need food.
Van Dorn said she?s giving herself six months to try and make the pet pantry idea a reality and she?s working hard to make sure she meets that deadline.
?We want to help people who want to keep their pets, but can?t afford to feed them,? Van Dorn said.
POPP is a 501c3 organization, meaning any donations made to the group are tax deductible, she said.
So far, Van Dorn said the pet food donations have been slow coming in, but she thinks it?s because people don?t really understand what the pet pantry is. She wants people to know the food being collected is not being collected to help feed the animals POPP has in foster care. Instead, it?s food that will be given to families who can?t afford to feed their pets.
Van Dorn looks at it as a way to help keep pets with their families instead of forcing families to put their pets up for adoption or abandoning them because they can no longer afford to feed them.
When enough food is collected and a location is available for the pet pantry, regular hours will be set up and people who need the pet food will have a good resource for assistance.
Pet food donation boxes can be found at Full Throttle Motorcycle in Kennewick, the Richland Animal Hospital, the Richland landfill?s scale house and Dr. Jean You?s office at Columbia Rehabilitation and Pain Inc. in Kennewick.
For more information on becoming a donation site or to donate space for the pet pantry contact Van Dorn and POPP by email at information@popptricities.org or call 943-4722.
Source: http://www.tricitiesbusinessnews.com/2012/02/richland-rescue-creating-food-bank-for-pets/
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