National Pet Food Bank Program

Many of us find that our companion animals provide us with social support and a sense of purpose, and interacting with them can reduce feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression. In turn, we take care of our beloved companions and strive to provide them with healthy, happy homes. 

The important human-animal bond that we share with our companion animals is a large part of why Humane Canada launched the National Pet Food Bank Program. Ensuring that Canadians are able to provide the care that their animals need during times of hardship, is crucial for keeping fur-families together and preserving this valuable bond. 

The grant period for our first-round of National Pet Food Bank grants concluded on December 31, 2021, and we were overwhelmed by the positive feedback that we received. The eight grant recipients were able to provide much-needed support to help their community members continue to care for their companion animals through challenging times. We heard accounts of resounding community support for these programs that helped promote awareness and create new partnerships that will sustain these valuable pet food banking efforts into the future. We would like to say a big Thank You to our first round of grant recipients for their incredible work! 

With the generous support of our valued donors, Humane Canada was able to provide a second round of grants at the end of 2021. We provided another $40,000 to support the pet food banking initiatives of eight additional organizations, including the Revelstoke & District Humane Society in Revelstoke, BC, and the Just Friends Food Bank in Stanley, New Brunswick. To see the full list of our second-round grant recipients, and to learn more about the National Pet Food Bank program, please visit https://humanecanada.ca/national-pet-food-bank/.  

We are deeply grateful for your support of the National Pet Food Bank program, especially as the pandemic continues to present financial challenges for many Canadians who may need support for their companion animals. Every contribution helps us continue to provide these grants and preserve the important human-animal bond shared by Canadians and their companions across the country. Thank you!

Links:

• Humane Canada National Pet Food Bank

Hello wonderful supporters, 

Did you know that 90% of Canadians with a pet identify them as family? Imagine not having enough resources to feed your family – all of them – even the animals. 

Canadians are animal lovers with more than 60% of households having a pet. The pandemic created a crisis that across the country made both people and their beloved animals financially vulnerable. Humane Canada set out to support those vulnerable animals and their families. With your help, we strived to do two things; make pet food banking more accessible during this crisis and create a positive legacy from the Covid crisis – a national, accessible pet food bank system. 

In January 2021, Humane Canada publicly launched a new grant program providing funding and support to organizations, helping vulnerable companion animals stay with their families through access to pet food and care items.  This grant was made possible through Humane Canada donors like you, and a matching grant program. We received 51 grant applications and were able to support 8 organizations across the country to help feed 9,220 animals. We are so proud of this accomplishment but it also let us know that there were another 43 organizations that needed our help, amounting to more than 75,000 animals in need. So, we set to work to make more money available for another grant.  

But we didn’t want to stop with only a grant, we wanted to make sure that there was an effective system in Canada to support animals in need on an on-going basis. So, this summer we convened a National Taskforce to design a new model that will work to achieve our vision: that pet food support is readily accessible for owners of companion animals in Canada during times of need. An accessible and sustainable network of pet food bank services that will help keep pets and people together and reduce pet surrenders. We are ready to implement that strategy to increase access for people in need and to increase donor support.   

We are excited to announce that we plan to launch a second grant cycle in October of this year! Humane Canada is starting a fund specifically for granting to organizations that provide pet food to vulnerable animals. It is a first of its kind in Canada. We could not do this without your help so please continue to give and to support our efforts to ensure that those individuals who are struggling to feed their pets receive the help they need and that we can keep families together through these difficult times. 

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for supporting our National Pet Food Bank program, we hope you will continue to join us in funding this important effort to directly feed vulnerable animals. 

Links:

• Humane Canada National Pet Food Bank program