August 18, 2008

An Atlanta woman has founded an organization to help needy pets by setting up food banks around the Atlanta region. (Photo Courtesy of Save Our Pets Food Bank)

ATLANTA -- “Foreclosures on the rise” is no longer a shocking headline, but the fallout from this epidemic still is sending shock waves through communities nationwide.

Often when a family has to foreclose, pets are caught in the flurry of no finances or time to care for them. Unfortunately, this means pets are found abandoned, or in some cases dead, in empty houses. That's where Ann King comes in.

King had first-hand experience with this alarming trend when her own neighbors moved out and left behind a cat, which was only discovered nearly 30 days later.

After weeks of treating malnourishment and fleas, King was able to nurse the cat back to health and now the young feline lives with King and her family. From there, the Save Our Pets Food Bank was born.

With the help of friends, King created Pet Food Bins and called Atlanta-area stores for permission to place them in local groceries so customers could make food donations as they checked out.

“This has been a tremendous success,” said King. “And has also created awareness of the problem that many people were not aware of ... and now are volunteering to help.”

The goal is to collect food for families which can’t afford to feed their pet. Recently, Save Our Pets made its first pickup, and with the help of 250 people, 400 pets receive food.

“Some people rode the bus and brought their rolling suitcases. We stuffed as much in the suitcases as we could,” said King. “We have received donations from around the country. One lady from Kentucky sent us a Pet Smart gift card that we are using for pets that need special diet or prescription food that we do not get donated.”

Currently, the program has 10 volunteers that process requests. Yet, King hopes the Atlanta Food Bank will want to work in tandem.

So far, the group has received only a small amount of monetary donations, but that is not why they started this.

"The main goal was, and still is, to try and educate people to please not abandon their pets, most times they will die and will die a lonely painful death," said King. "There is help out there and we will do anything to help you avoid having to leave your pets behind."

"The phone calls, e-mails and tears streaming down peoples faces when they are picking up their food, talking about how grateful they are to be able to continue feeding their babies is all the thank you’s I could ever want."

The impact Save Our Pets is evident in a phone call King received a couple weeks ago from a woman who wanted to make donation on behalf of her niece, who had just died from cancer.

Now a memorial is being set up on the organization’s Web site.

As for the future, King says she doesn't see the food banks going away anytime soon, as “there will always be a need for food especially the way the economy is right now.”

While animals in Atlanta are happy are being fed one-by-one, pets in other cities are in need. King says she is more than happy to see Save Our Pets expand across the country and will work with anyone wanting to give needy pets food.

For more information, visit SaveOurPetsFoodBank.org.

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