Pet food banks see dwindling donations, rising need across B.C.

Ongoing financial pressures have had an impact on households across Canada and organizations like the BC SPCA are, in turn, feeling the pinch.

Its animal centres have continued to see a drop in the number of donations of pet food and supplies and that’s raising concerns.

Diane Waters, the BCSPCA outreach specialist, said they used to get a lot of donations through public drop-offs, company food drives and corporate donations.

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“We’re seeing a lot of those kind of dissipating or not really happening anymore,” Waters said. “I think that has a lot to do with the price and the cost of living going up.”

Shelves at many BC SPCA locations are now empty. Meanwhile, their aim is to collect 90,000 kilograms of pet food every year and they’re at less than a third of that benchmark so far.

Waters said the society makes every effort to keep the food bank shelves stocked, but adds that supplies can get depleted very quickly, especially in parts of the Okanagan with the threat of wildfires growing every year.

“Right now we’re seeing a ton of demand happening in Kelowna, as well as Vernon,” Waters said, adding that while the Vernon SPCA office shut its doors, it’s maintaining a food bank program and partnering with other North Okanagan organizations to keep its presence there.

But pressure is going up in other areas as well.

“These donations will go directly back into the community and to help kind of support animals that are either fleeing emergency response situations or just folks who are struggling to (make) ends meet and feed their whole family,” Waters said.