Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

This crisis is not the time for people to relinquish their pets or feel guilty because they can’t feed them.

Hi. This is Sue from the Dr. John P. Ruffing VMD Pet Food Pantry, a project of Pittsburgh LGBTQ Charities.

Marie and I were talking about the impact of the SNAP crisis on pet owners. Obviously, they need to prioritize the humans and thus, I’ve published a list of human food resources. But for many of us, our beloved pets are family members – having to choose not to feed them or even relinquish them to a shelter is yet another terrible reality for too many families targeted by this evil policy change.

We invite folx to sign up for our regular monthly distribution – it isn’t enough for a whole month, but it might help. You’ll receive 6-10 lbs of dry food and 5-10 cans of wet food. If we receive more donations, we’ll distribute more food.

We’d like to offer emergency immediate distributions for November, but our inventory is low. We have enough pet food to get through December thanks to our very recent drive. So we are back again with yet another emergency request for food donations.

As our resources allow, we’ll offer food.

We also have some urgent requests for kitten food.

How can you help?

• Donate food
• Organize a pet food drive
• Invite us to your event to collect pet food items
• Volunteer to deliver food (bit.ly/PLCVolunteer)

You can ship to us, drop in our donation bins on the Northside, or make a financial contribution so we can purchase the most needed items. If you give us your address, we’ll mail you one of our limited edition #GoGertieGo stickers, created by nationally renowned cartoonist Joe Wos and produced by union print shop, Commonwealth Press.

We focus on cats and dogs, but can distribute foods for birds, fish, small furry critters, etc. We will not distribute live food or food for illegal exotic pets.

How it works. Once registered, you’ll be assigned to Week One, Two, etc. During your week, a bag with your distribution will be available to pick up from our bins in Manchester – you’ll have Sun to Sat to pick it up. Deliveries are usually during Week Four. We try to provide 6-10 pounds of dry food and 5-10 cans of wet.

We do not take brand specific requests except for health needs. You can turn down brands, but we do not guarantee a replacement will be available. We cannot provide prescription foods.

No one should have to relinquish a pet b/c of a lack of food. Tough times are when we need their love and comfort.

The link is bit.ly/PetFolxPetFoodPantry Ignore the bit about the Northside. Just type in “Blog Post” and I’ll know you saw it here.