TOLEDO (WTVG) - Humane Ohio has operated a pet food bank in Toledo for nearly a decade. But a Toledo education and rescue group is now taking over the day-to-day operations of that food bank.
The pet food bank first opened at Humane Ohio in 2009. In the years since then, nearly 600,000 pounds of food have been given to pets in need.
The Humane Ohio pet food bank has been a lifeline to Fran Nowak and thousands of others, "Would you be able to keep your dogs without this food bank? No. Absolutely not." Fran is on disability. When she took in her son's two dogs, she had trouble keeping up with the extra bills, "This has been a wonderful program for me. They've helped me tremendously. I have been able to keep the dogs thanks to all the help they've given me. I am planning to volunteer here at some point, so I can give back to a place that's given so much to me."
That's been the case for a lot of other people too, including Alan Eyre, "The food bank helps me get good nutritional food for my animals. My animals are very important to me. It saves me a lot of money, so I can buy groceries for me and my wife."
Alan not only relies on the food bank to help feed his pets, he also gives back by volunteering his time, "I have five dogs and five cats. The food bank helped me out when I was down and out. I feel the need to give back, it makes me feel a lot better to help out here."
Julie Lyle is the Clinic Director at Humane Ohio. She says about 600 pet owners were helped last year alone, "A lot of people are having to decide between paying their electric bills and buying pet food that month. They may also be having to decide whether to feed themselves or their pets. We don't want people going hungry, and we don't want pets ending up in shelters. Taking that worry off people's shoulders and keeping pets in their homes is a goal of the pet food bank. "
The main work of Humane Ohio is a low-cost spay neuter clinic. More than 17,000 dogs and cats will be fixed this year. Julie says the Humane Ohio staff and volunteers will still help pick up and deliver food, but the day-to-day operations and the distribution of it will shift to the PET BULL Project, "It seemed silly to be duplicating services. The PET BULL Project had a food bank some days, and we had ours on different days. We are just combining forces. Working together it is a win-win for everyone."
Toledo's PET Bull Project is an educational, training and rescue organization right down the street form Humane Ohio. The group has run it's own food bank for a number of years. Cindy Reinsel is the founder of the organization,"There's a lot of work to do out here. We were both running food banks, and we decided we could have a bigger impact on the community by working together. To be able to partner with an organization like Humane Ohio, truly means we'll be able to help even more people."
The PET Bull food bank will also provide opportunities for a program called G.O.A.L. that helps young adults with autism and other developmental disabilities, "We have a collaboration with Green Options for Autism of Lucas County. We have students from the program coming here and learning life skills with their teachers to help run the pet food pantry."
The transition from Humane Ohio to Toledo's PET Bull Project will be gradual. The Humane Ohio pet food bank will stay open until the first week of November, so that everyone has time to learn about the new location. Humane Ohio and The PET Bull Project are both on Tremainsville Road.
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