Advocates make argument for extending food stamps to pets

[Boiler 43,543]

Edward Johnston Jr. would rather give his dinner to his dog than watch the dog go hungry. That is why the 59-year-old Mississippi man is petitioning the Department of Agriculture to let him use food stamps on kibble and pet treats.

Pets are part of the family, Johnston argued, and families should not have to break up when they hit what he calls a “financial rough patch.” He is asking that the federal government modify food-stamp rules to make it easier for low-income people like him to buy food for their pets.

The petition has little chance of succeeding, experts say, given the political and logistical challenges of changing food stamps, otherwise known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. But it has attracted the attention of nearly 80,000 signers on the popular petition site Care2, as well as a number of animal welfare organizations.

These groups say allowing food stamps to be used for pet food could potentially keep tens of thousands of animals out of shelters and prevent low-income people from cutting their pets’ meals.

“It’s potentially game-changing,” said Matt Bershadker, the president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. “I think we should get behind this in a big way.”

Advocates say a food-stamp program that includes pet food would address a little-discussed gap in the social safety net: Currently, there is no federal program that helps low-income people care for their pets.

 

https://www.denverpost.com/2018/01/28/food-stamps-for-pets/

[TBoneTX 43,157]

How many of these pets are in the country legally?

[Dashinka 23,273]

I heard the guys on the radio debating this a few minutes ago.  They were wondering if mice would be considered pets, or food for someone’s pet snake, or both under this proposal.

[Cyberfx1024 7,978]

This is absurd at the face of it and anyway you want to think about it at all.

[Boiler 43,543]

What about Pedigree Siberian Hamsters?

 

 

[yuna628 9,530]

I'm torn on this one actually. Pet starvation, neglect, and abuse is prevalent in poor areas. I've seen it in the city and I've seen it in my little town. You tend to see a lot of neglected and starving dogs. Shelters are overcrowded from pets abandoned or surrendered when the family couldn't afford to care for it anymore. Of course I'd say (in the same way my own vet would feel) if you are that bad off why did you get a dog in the first place? But we'd both also acknowledge that, in some situations a dog once has a loving home until financial circumstances change, and the dog is abandoned because the family cannot afford it. Some of these owners are broken-hearted.. and others are more callous.

 

Since I was a kid I've had all shelter animals - several were abandoned or were freed from puppy mills, a few their owners died and were bounced around to horrific situations, and my current dog clearly has ongoing issues related to abuse, severe neglect, and starvation. I think that in some situations, that loving families that had a pet when they were stable financially and now have fallen on hard times, would likely keep that animal safe and happy if they had an ability to feed it. There would be less neglected animals, feral cats, poor children would feel happier, and pets also provide great benefits to the elderly. The other part of me says of course, if you cannot care for an animal, then it should be given to someone who can provide it a loving home, no matter how painful it is to part.

 

Pet food banks are a real big deal now. The city Humane Society allows people to come in once per month to get an allotment of food... but there are no such resources out here. But this leads me to my other question - if you cannot afford to feed it, how do you ensure it receives proper medical care...

[spookyturtle 9,465]

I donate a few times a year to the local humane society. They do a lot of work as volunteers and receive no pay. They do it out of the goodness of their hearts. 

[Boiler 43,543]

Mine is a rescue, something I frequently remind him about, just done his nails, mega task.

[yuna628 9,530]

3 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Mine is a rescue, something I frequently remind him about, just done his nails, mega task.

I have to muzzle this sucker and it takes three people to just clip some nails. He wants to murder anyone trying to clip the nails (he was brought into the shelter so neglected and overgrown that the nails were bending back into the paw.. he has such an extreme fight or flight issue about this).

[Boiler 43,543]

1 minute ago, yuna628 said:

I have to muzzle this sucker and it takes three people to just clip some nails. He wants to murder anyone trying to clip the nails (he was brought into the shelter so neglected and overgrown that the nails were bending back into the paw.. he has such an extreme fight or flight issue about this).

I have a large wood stove I tie him to, then thick gloves and my Carhartt. Lead around the front and back.

 

Last time we went to the vest took 3 of us and half way though he did a mega dump.

[TBoneTX 43,157]

Manicuring Cat T-B. is an intense 2-person job at minimum, not for the faint of heart.

Fortunately, she has never mega-, regular-, or mini-dumped during this process.

[Boiler 43,543]

7 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

Manicuring Cat T-B. is an intense 2-person job at minimum, not for the faint of heart.

Fortunately, she has never mega-, regular-, or mini-dumped during this process.

My guess is that he is bigger than your cat.

[TBoneTX 43,157]

As probably are the dumps...

[bcking 3,157]

1 hour ago, Boiler said:

Mine is a rescue, something I frequently remind him about, just done his nails, mega task.

We constantly remind our dog (a rescue) how lucky he is when he is lounging in pajamas in a tempurpedic dog bed surrounded by the remains of a half dozen chew toys. Also when we brush his teeth, or wash him in our bath tub (too cold outside!). He's an 85 pound golden.

 

As to the topic - While I feel very strongly about pet neglect, malnourishment etc...this just seems silly.

 

We have to solve a lot of things regarding how we see pets in this country. In 2 years in Houston I've seen 3 dogs literally dumped on the freeway (1 alive, 2 dead).

 

Giving out pet food stamps isn't going to solve anything.

[Boiler 43,543]

Mine is half French, Half Spanish but born in the US.

 

Big boy and he has no income or assets so help would be nice.

 

Medicaid for Dogs?