Читать книгу Animal Behavior for Shelter Veterinarians and Staff - Группа авторов - Страница 178

Food bank programs provide pet food to companion animals at no cost to their owners. These programs can be set up as independent pet food banks or in collaboration with human social services such as food pantries, soup kitchens, or homeless shelters. Limited published literature exists to document the impact of food bank programs, but one survey of staff members showed a high perceived client value of pet food banks (Rauktis et al. 2017). Further support for this perception was found in a recent study in which 60% of sheltering organizations surveyed offered a food bank program, and 60% of these organizations felt that it was their most used program (Russo et al. 2021).

The positive impact of a food bank program for the pet is clear: it addresses the pet’s basic needs while also preventing relinquishment due to an owner’s inability to provide adequate nutrition. Food‐insecure pet owners may choose to feed their pet at the expense of their own nutrition (Rauktis et al. 2017); thus, pet food banks not only help the client via preservation of the human‐animal bond but can also support that client’s nutritional well‐being.

Because pet food bank programs can be developed in conjunction with human food services, these programs can be an ideal opportunity for animal welfare organizations to begin or enhance collaboration with community partners. These community partnerships can then form a framework for other community outreach programs.

The resource commitment in establishing a pet food bank is generally quite reasonable, particularly when done in collaboration with community partners. Pet food banks are often established using donated pet food, which otherwise might be turned away or discarded by the shelter due to the health advantage of feeding shelter animals a consistent diet. Resources are necessary to ensure the physical space that is required to store food prior to distribution and to maintain the donated pet food inventory, including monitoring food expiration dates. Time must also be devoted to the actual distribution of the food. However, with some variation based on the scope of the program, these resource investments are relatively small.