Pet food drive: Help feed hungry cats and dogs

Hopefully all of your veterinary patients are well-fed. Unfortunately, many dogs and cats aren't so lucky. Government cuts to social service programs for seniors and a high unemployment rate have forced a growing number of pet owners to choose between feeding their pets and feeding themselves. These financial constraints have resulted in increased reports of families surrendering their pets to already overcrowded shelters and seniors sharing their already limited human food supply with their pets.

That's why thousands of veterinary team members across the country are taking part in a national pet food drive, Season of Suppers, to help vulnerable pet owners feed their hungry pets. This November and December, Banfield Charitable Trust hopes to collect more than 70,000 pounds of food to provide 140,000 meals to the pets of homebound seniors, the unemployed, and the disabled in 2012.

Through Dec. 31, you can donate bags and cans of both cat and dog food to any Banfield Pet Hospital, most of which are located inside PetSmart. Banfield Charitable Trust also hopes to raise more than $100,000 in monetary donations on their website (banfieldcharitabletrust.org) and at the pet hospitals in order to fund grants for more than 100 local Meals on Wheels pet food distribution programs after the food donations are depleted.

Click here for fund-raising tips and launch a food drive at your clinic this month—or every month—and help the hungry pets in your neck of the woods.