500 Bay Area families to receive free food on Pet Hunger Awareness Day

RUSKIN, Fla. - It was all hands and paws on deck Tuesday morning as Feeding Tampa Bay partnered with PetSmart Charities and Feeding America to hold a pet and human food distribution super-event at the Community Cupboard in Ruskin.

The efforts were in honor of  PetSmart Charities unleashing the first Pet Hunger Awareness Day on September 26.

According to PetSmart Charities research, 30 million pets in the U.S. face hunger every year. 

The organization, which has been making grants to social service and animal welfare organizations to alleviate pet hunger for many years, launched Pet Hunger Awareness Day because the nonprofit has seen firsthand the disastrous consequences families face. 

These include even making the impossible choice to surrender those loved pets to already overcrowded shelters or being compelled to give food meant for themselves to their pets instead. 

READ: Feeding Tampa Bay works to keep up with record level of food insecurity

A new survey commissioned by PetSmart Charities revealed that 66% of pet parents would share some of their food if they were struggling to feed their pet and 83% would forgo their own meals to make sure their pet has enough to eat. 

Dogs go through car line with owner to get pet food. 

Once the organization learned those stats, Feeding Tampa Bay wanted to get involved.

"At Feeding Tampa Bay, we don't want those in our care to make difficult choices between feeding themselves or their pets," said Thomas Mantz, president and CEO. "We’re thankful for our friends at PetSmart Charities that make pet food available to share throughout our region."

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They were set to serve about 500 families at Tuesday’s distribution.

Pet Hunger Awareness Day will be recognized annually on the last Tuesday of September moving forward. 

LINK: Click here if you are need of resources or food for your family or pet.