RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Shelters are overflowing with surrendered pets but a local non-profit is trying to alleviate the financial burden for pet owners and keep pets in their forever homes.
Rand Wachsstok is a veterinarian and founder of Compassion Animal Project, a non-profit that holds pop-up pet food pantries in the Richmond area. He spoke with 8News about what he believes are the most common reasons for overcrowded shelters.
“Pet food outstripping the rate of inflation,” Wachsstok said. “This is just a huge barrier for people.”
Wachsstok says the cost of pet food has gone up by 15-20%, forcing some families to choose between their bills or keeping their animals.
Another expert — Christie Chipps Peters, the director of Richmond Animal Care and Control (RACC) — told 8News that veterinary care costs are another reason for overcrowded shelters.
“Veterinary care. I think a lot of people are having to get rid of their animals because they can’t provide whatever vet care they may need to keep them happy and healthy. But food is a basic and a constant,” Peters said.
In her experience at RAAC, Peters says most animals at shelters come from pet owners dealing with financial issues. That financial strain is something dog owner, Dickie Martinson, says he has experienced before.
“It was a lot of times in the beginning,” Martinson said. “Me eating top ramen while my dogs are eating steaks and things like that to keep them healthy because they’re more important to me like a kid is. They were more important that they ate over me.”
Martinson lives in Richmond where Peters said they’ve seen an uptick in abandoned animals.
So far this year, RACC has handled 79 animal cruelty cases that have ended in convictions.
“It’s been a very trying year in the animal welfare world,” she said.
In December 2022, the Compassion Animal Project held its first-ever drive-through pet food pantry in the Richmond area. Wachsstok says they served 200 families with 25,000 pounds of pet food.
“As the rate of increase and the cost of pet food skyrockets, you know, people can use all the help they can get,” he said.
This weekend, Wachsstock says he hopes to serve more than 100 families and rescue groups with 10,000 pounds of dog and cat food.
“It’s really nice to see such a big event that hopefully a lot of people will take advantage of to go and take as much as they need for their pet in order to keep that pet in their house,” Peters said.
The drive-through pop-up pet food pantry is happening this Saturday, Sept. 9, at the Holiday Barn Pet Resort on Johnston Willis Drive. It starts at 10 a.m. and lasts until 1 p.m.
