Animal Humane Society, Second Harvest Heartland partner to create pet food bank
Pets are part of the family, and they are sharing in the struggle with rising grocery prices.
A CBS News analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index shows pet food prices have climbed more than 20% since 2022.
"It's ridiculous. I'm appalled," Deb Miller, the proud pet parent of two cats and a chihuahua, said. "I'm blessed because I'm on the Meals on Wheels program, so there's a meal guaranteed for me."
Fortunately for Miller, she's now able to get help with pet food thanks to a new partnership between the Animal Humane Society in Golden Valley, Minnesota, and Second Harvest Heartland in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. Since January, they've been able to source, store and distribute roughly 40,000 pounds of dog and cat food — enough for nearly 5,000 animals.
"One of the great things about this partnership is now not only do we have the sources of food coming directly but we've had other donors step up and want to support the program as well," Lindsey Ochmanek, director of sourcing and demand planning at Second Harvest, told WCCO News.
For the Animal Humane Society, the partnership has not only expanded access but also expanded opportunities to provide more services.
"We've also been able to add community vaccine clinics, so we've been able to add more programs with our volunteer pool rather than having everyone pack up food," AHS' Michaela Baltazar-Feyen said. "We are doing clinics several times a month across the five metro counties — Hennepin, Aamsey, Dakota, Washington and Anoka."
