[caption id="attachment_62549" align="alignright" width="224"] Pet Food Stamps provide food for family pets[/caption]With around 15 percent of the U.S. population receiving what are commonly known as food stamps many families struggling to make ends meet do not have the funds to feed their pets.

A New York based program has been established to provide free pet food for qualifying families throughout the entire U.S.; the program is known as Pet Food Stamps and aims to provide up to six months of free food to avoid families giving up their pets to animal shelters.

Established by Marc Okon the program provides monthly deliveries of food and supplies needed for a month's worth of care; the supplies are provided and delivered by Pet Food Direct.

"I received a letter from a woman who is on food stamps," Okon explained to KVIA. "She lost her job recently. She's a single mother of a severely disabled young boy, and she said his only companion and his only mode of communication is with the family dog, and they're thinking about getting rid of the dog because they can't afford to feed it. It's people like that that this program is aimed to help."

The majority of animal shelters are forced to destroy animals they are unable to rehome prompting the Pet Food Stamps program to try and keep as many animals out of shelters.

"When people are going through difficult situations, where they've lost their jobs or their home is foreclosed, the last thing they need to do is lose their very best friend," Dawn Glass, marketing director at Animal Humane New Mexico, told KRQE.

The majorioty of people who currently qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are thought to qualify for the Pet Food Stamps program.

On The Web:

Food Stamps For Pets: Nonprofit Helps Low-Income Families And The Animals They Love
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/26/food-stamps-for-pets-pet-food-stamps_n_2767048.html?utm_hp_ref=impact&ir=Impact