KTKA

Many dogs have families that just can't afford to feed them anymore. Julie Castaneda of the Capital Area Animal Response Team or C.A.A.R.T says people are giving away their own food to feed their pets.

"We have people that are retired, on a fixed income and feeding their pets meals on wheels food that's supposed to be for them and they are eating it but they're having to share it with the pet."

Julie Castaneda, the executive director of the Capital Area Animal Response Team, was supposed to start handing out free pet food tomorrow at 8am. But people were in such desperate to feed their pets, Julie started 3 days early.

"There's a huge need, much more than we even anticipated when we started this. We knew that people needed help but we didn't know quite how many people really needed the help."

The C.A.A.R.T program actually started giving out foodWednesday so these dogs could have some food to eat and their families don't have to share with them.

Julie started the pet pantry because one man came to her dog day care center with no money to buy food for his pet.

"People are faced with a really crucial decision and that is do we keep a pet we can no longer afford or do we take it to an animal shelter.'

She hopes the pet pantry will help people pinching their pennies, keep their four legged friends.

"These pets are already owned, they have homes. People just need help getting through this crunch time."

The C.A.A.R.T team gives away food the first and third Saturday of every month.

To learn more go to shawneecaart.org/ or call Julie at 785-925-3678