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Pet Soup Kitchens

Instead of people giving up their pets because they can afford to feed them, let's offer the "Soup Kitchen" alternative. We were talking about this a while back and now we commend the grass roots efforts of those "working it out" for their home town. Here are some examples of every day Peep's making it happen. A special Woofy Woo to you from Lookie Lou and the TPPC.tv Crew!

Send your Soup Kitchen news to us to share with others for ideas/inspiration. Send to info@tppc.tv.

From South Carolina, "The Leader", neighbors helping neighbors with pets

http://www.thestate.com/neighbors/story/617478.html

Harvest Hope helps struggling pet owners

By PETE SHOONER - Special to The State

For Columbia resident Lakysha Belton, “every little bit helps” these days.

The full-time student, who also works part-time, started going to Harvest Hope Food Bank earlier this year.

And now, she’s able to get help there for another member of her household: an 11-month-old pit bull.

Guy McFadden of Gadsden feeds his cats food he got through the HSPCA and Harvest Hope food bank. "I'd starve before I'd let something happen to my kitties," McFadden said. The HSPCA offers dog and cat food to people in need at the Harvest Hope food pantry.

- Tracy Glantz/tglantz@thestate.com /The State

How you can get help

Clients who need pet food can fill out an application at Harvest Hope Food Bank, 2200 Shop Road, and receive vouchers based on the type, size and number of pets they have.

The vouchers can then be taken to the Pet Soup van, located in the parking lot of Harvest Hope from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fridays.

Clients can receive up to 2 pounds of dog or cat food, as well as dental treats for dogs.

DONATIONS

Private donations of pet food, toys and other supplies are always needed. Drop off supplies at the Humane Society offices at 121 Humane Lane, off Shop Road.

Harvest Hope Food Bank and the Humane Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals kicked off Pet Soup last month.

The program aims to help pet owners, many struggling in a tough economy, to keep their animals out of shelters — something some groups have seen more of nationwide, as more families are unable to afford to keep them.

“We’ve seen people struggling to make ends meet, and it affects animals too,” said Kelly Graham, Pet Soup project director. “There have been reports of people feeding animals noodles and table scraps.”

Graham said the goal is to provide healthy, nutritional food for the animals.

Harvest Hope clients can receive up to 2 pounds of dog or cat food as well as dental treats for dogs. Food is distributed at the food bank on Fridays.

Pet Soup is already seeing a high demand, serving more than 100 people each week.

Graham said her team usually runs out of pet food before the day is over.

Similar projects have been successful in other parts of the country. In San Diego, Calif., Meals on Wheels started providing food for senior citizens’ pets more than 20 years ago through the AniMeals program.

The local Humane Society hopes to see this project spread nationwide, as Humane Societies in North Carolina and Baltimore, Md., have expressed a desire to begin similar projects.

The local group may consider expanding services at Harvest Hope beyond Fridays, based on need — and the ability to sustain the program.

The majority of the food is being donated by Diamond Pet Foods, which has already delivered more than 5,000 pounds of dog and cat food.

For Belton, the Pet Soup program is a blessing.

“They told me inside that there’s help for the dogs, too, and I just about cried,” said Belton.

“I’m just very thankful,” she added, noting “getting rid of (the dog) just isn’t an option.”

This is the motivation behind Daffy's Pet Soup Kitchen in GA
Find out how to help at:
http://www.daffyspetsoupkitchen.com/

DAFFY'S STORY

I was born in March of 2001 in a small town in Georgia. I don't know what I did but my family and I were put in a box and put on the side of the road when I was only a few weeks old. Some people picked us up and took us home. They took care of us the best they could but they soon realized that they couldn't take care of us all. So one by one other people came and took away my brothers and sisters. But nobody wanted me.

I was small and had a nervous problem around people. That may be because of the mean kid that threw rocks at me. I stayed with that family for probably three months. I'm not very good with time. I had to sleep outside under a car. It wasn't very comfortable and I was lonely. Pretty soon, there wasn't very much food for me anymore. I had to go from house to house trying to find something to eat. Then one day, I saw a man working on a house in my neighborhood. I saw him eating lunch every day. Eventually, I had to go say, "Hi."

From that day on I got free lunch and didn't even have to work that much. All I did was bark at the occasional person walking by. My job lasted about a week and then the job was finished. The man was cleaning up and packing to go home. It started raining really hard and the man was in the house, so I ran to hide under my car. Then, all of a sudden, the man ran from the house and got in his truck to leave. I didn't know what to do. Should I stay? Should I run out to say "goodbye"? Then I saw the man start to drive away. I was so sad and depressed. Then I saw the truck stop. The door opened, and the man whistled for me to come get in the truck. I guess he could use my help on another job.

I must have done such a good job that he leaves me at home now to do my job. For doing my job I get free food, free home, and a great medical plan. I need good medical since now I am a diabetic. And that's expensive. I now wonder if my original family may be diabetic or have any other medical problems. Did they get a good home? Are they as happy as I am? Can they afford food and medical? I'd hate to think they had to be given up because no one could take care of them. How sad it must be not to have a family. Or worse yet, have a family then lose it. So I started this place to make sure that I can help any other animal, even a cat, if they are in the same situation I was in. A place to help new families afford to stay together. It just took one person to make a difference in my life. Maybe you can be that one person for someone else. Help a new family get together. Help an old family stay together. Give us the opportunity to help keep them together. Just think about it and donate today. And if you see a dog, especially one that looks like me, help him out or bring him by. He may be related to me.

Here is a story about a soup kitchen in Germany
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hgiJdz9fcS9aCfWF4Dixs1TEGbwQ

Dec 23, 2008

BERLIN (AFP) — In a sign of the times in Europe's biggest economy, poodles, pinschers, terriers, and sheep dogs are queuing up for rations at Berlin's first soup kitchen for pets.

The venue is a disused nightschool in the former communist east Berlin where the smell of straw, dry food and wet dog lingers in the air as a Jack Russell in a checkered coat waddles past on its way to the kibbles line for biscuits.

Pensioners and those on the dole qualify for the free pet food buffet which opened in the district of Treptow in mid-October, allowing those with no disposable income the chance to hold on to their beloved dogs and cats.

"We've already signed up nearly 400 people. And our stocks are dwindling fast. Today cat owners are just getting a single tin each," said Julia Raasch, who heads the capital's sole animal soup kitchen, run by Tiertafel (Animal Dining Table), a pet welfare association.

Berlin, where unemployment hovers around 13 percent, has some 100,000 registered dogs, many of them owned by pensioners.

The soup kitchen also caters to other pets -- including cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, and budgerigars. Twelve volunteers hand out food and advice, while keeping an eye on the animals' health.

Food rations, donated by individuals and food companies alike, will normally cover the animal's needs for four to five days.

Tiertafel, launched two years ago, now runs 19 soup kitchens across down the country. With the looming prospect of the longest and deepest recession in Germany since World War II, the group is planning on opening 30 more.

Claudia Hollm, who owns three dogs herself, said she came up with the idea of pet soup kitchens after seeing a television report about a family having to give their dog away to an animal rescue centre after the father was made redundant.

"The dog didn't understand what was going on; all the family was upset, and we just thought -- it just can't be that for the sake of 30 or 40 euros (42 or 56 dollars) they've got to turn their pet out," she said.

"Everyday we see people who can't keep their pets anymore because of the cost," according to Evamarie Koenig, spokeswoman for Berlin's central animal rescue centre.

The facility takes in more than 10,000 animals each year, with one in three handed over by owners who say they can no longer look after them, she added.

At the Treptow soup kitchen, animal owners -- known as "customers" -- must initially turn up with the animal in order to register. And they must show proof the pet has been vaccinated.

They must also prove financial need by showing their welfare papers, unemployment registration or pension card.

"It's easy for someone to go from middle-income wage earner to someone on Hartz IV," Hollm said, referring to the state allocation granted to people on long-term welfare which is worth about 350 euros a month.

And poverty further isolates people who sometimes must rely on their pet for their sole company, she added.

"Half our customers are old people for whom a cat or dog is their last social link," she said.

It also quickly became obvious that people needed more than just a tin of animal food, Hollm said, pointing to the need to make sure pets stay healthy.

Amid the holiday season, the association is calling for extra donations so that volunteers can lay out bones, pigs' ears, toy mice and scratching posts under the Christmas trees set up in each of its soup kitchens.

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