Humane society launches holiday hamper drive amid spike in pet food bank demand

The number of appointments at the Winnipeg Humane Society’s pet food bank more than tripled last month compared with April.

The food bank had 88 appointments in April and 301 in October. The humane society has launched its first-ever pet food holiday hamper drive to support its food bank after the 242 per cent increase in demand.

The organization wants to hand out at least 100 hampers — half for dogs, and half for cats — to help relieve the financial pressure many people face during the holiday season. The list of desired items — such as food, toys and treats — can be found at wfp.to/pethamper.

“Everything these days just costs more, and that includes caring for your pet. No one should have to choose between feeding themselves or their animal,” Kendra Galbraith, the society’s manager of community outreach, said in a news release Wednesday.

Hamper donations will be accepted at 45 Hurst Way until Dec. 3. People can donate to the food bank financially at wfp.to/whsdonate. The hampers will be distributed at the West End Resource Centre from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec. 16.

The humane society has added satellite locations at the resource centre and the North Point Douglas Women’s Centre in the past year to improve access to its food bank, and hosted pop-up food banks. The food banks are also intended to reduce the number of animals turned over to the humane society.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca