 Barked: Tue Apr 27, '10 1:25pm PST |
 | |  | | Hello!
I am posting on behalf of our non-profit rescue, Homestretch Hounds, Inc. We are trying to survive and continue helping pets in need, but have run into a tough situation in finding affordable good quality pet food for our shelter. I know there are so many caring and educated people on Dogster, so I am hoping for some ideas. As I am sure you know, times are tough and our rescue and shelter is struggling to survive. We are desperate to find an affordable source of good quality pet food for the shelter. We have tried a few local feed mills, but the quality of the lower priced foods offered has proven substandard. Our shelter residents need and deserve a good quality food and we also promote the importance of quality food to our visitors and adopters. We are desperate to find a solution in order to remain open and continue helping pets in need.
We are not a subsidized shelter, we rely on adoption fees and donations to fund our expenses, the rest comes out of pocket. Needless to say, with the tough economic times, donations have nearly disappeared and adoptions are down, leaving more pets in our rescue's care with less money. Some of the pets in our care have been in our rescue for years as they have behavioral or medical special needs or are of a breed or mix that is not desired by most adopters. Please visit our website at www.hhdogs.petfinder.com to "meet" our wonderful shelter and rescue residents.
Homestretch Hounds Inc, an all volunteer, non-profit, no-kill shelter and sanctuary located in Southwestern Ohio, was founded with a mission to help homeless pets. Our rescued pets end up homeless through no fault of their own. They come from rural county facilities and pounds, as well as owner releases and strays. Our mission is to give these fantastic animals a second chance at life by bringing them to our program when their time is up at other facilities or when they have no other place to turn.
We have been with a large company shelter feeding program, but the cost has gone up and up and the company has criticized our rescue for using too much food per pet. They apparently have ratios that each adopted pet should only consume so much food. Being a no-kill rescue, we are unable to meet the ratios so the company has let us know that they will not be renewing their shelter feeding contract with our rescue.
For several weeks, we have spent countless hours calling and emailing pet food manufacturers, distributors, etc to find an affordable way to purchase food...we are not asking for a hand out, but a way to feed the shelter residents good quality food at an affordable cost. We have received few responses and surprisingly, of those, no offers of any help other than to tell us to "keep up the good work". I have been saddened and surprised at the lack of help any company thus far has been willing to provide and even more surprised at the rather rude responses from a few companies.
I am just wondering if anyone out there has gone through this with a shelter and/or has any suggestions. Thank you so much in advance!
Homestretch Hounds, Inc.
a 501c3 charity
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