Ask a New Orleans commercial fisherman to show you a picture of a loved one and, invariably, he pulls a photo of his dog from his wallet.
Now, as cash-strapped residents in coastal New Orleans arrive to pick up donated food to feed their four-legged friends, many are brought to tears by the generosity.
When Best Friends learned about the dilemma of fishing families unable to afford pet food, especially for their larger dogs, a food manufacturer came to the rescue in a big way. Del Monte Foods donated 41,000 pounds — or 20 tons — of 17-1/2-pound bags of Kibbles ‘n Bits for large canines. Best Friends paid for the transportation, and the truckload of food was soon on its way, arriving July 1 in the Crescent City. It could not have come at a better time for the families along the oil-damaged coast.
“The people who are coming in have big dogs,” says Beth Brewster, director of the St. Bernard Parish Animal Shelter, which sits on a vast coastline noteworthy for one of Louisiana’s hardest-hit areas. The shelter has recently taken in many more pets than this time last year. Fishing families with large dogs, Brewster says, are most in need, noting, “They can’t afford to feed them. It’s a relief for them.”
And it’s a relief for the shelter. No one wants to give up a pet, she says, but many, because of the damage to the fishing industry as the spill continues, have had to face that difficult decision. The food, Brewster says, “is a load off of them. They bring photos of their dogs with them when they pick up the food.”
And when they share those photos, “They have tears in their eyes. They’re very, very thankful,” she says. “It’s one less thing they have to worry about.”
The Louisiana SPCA has collaborated with Brewster and Best Friends, as a part of Best Friends' First Home Forever Home campaign, and, so far, is setting up four distribution sites, in St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Orleans and Jefferson parishes.
Brewster is setting up a streamlined system at St. Bernard Parish where residents only have to be screened once. They fill out an application, present a commercial fishing license or proof that they work as charter boat operators or in another field where the spill has put their means of making a living on hold. That way, Brewster says, “they can come back next month for more and not have to apply again. We wanted to make sure we were targeting those in need.”
St. Bernard Parish shelter had already started supporting 30 fishing families by donating what food they could spare. Now, they can help even more, Brewster says.
The idea to expand was hatched by Ken Foster with the New Orleans-based Sula Foundation, which promotes responsible pit bull terrier ownership. Foster brainstormed with others to “pool resources to give these families the option of keeping their pets,” he says.
Ellen Gilmore, campaign specialist for Best Friends’ First Home Forever Home, couldn’t be happier. “These families have not only lost their livelihoods, but also their way of life practically overnight. They shouldn’t have to face losing members of their families, too. It’s just too much to expect anybody to bear,” she says.
The pets, along with their people, “are the innocent victims of a disaster they did nothing to create.”
The food represents more than a donation. “This is a shining example of multiple organizations working together in a crisis toward the common goal of keeping pets alive and with their families, toward a day of No More Homeless Pets,” Gilmore says.
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The goal of the First Home Forever Home campaign is to help people make and honor a lifetime commitment to their pets. Millions of companion animals die every year in crowded shelters because their families decided to let them go for some reason. Through education, intervention and action, First Home Forever Home provides guidance and resources to help people care for their pets and keep them as loved members of their families. Eight to 10 million pets enter America’s shelter system every year. How many of them, if given a helping hand, could stay with their families instead?
By supporting the First Home Forever Home campaign you help us with projects such as this one to send food to New Orleans, and you help create a time of No More Homeless Pets.
Photos by Charlene Millet and Kathleen Jackson as seen on Flickr