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Friday, February 20, 2009
Pet owners short of cash get help feeding animals
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You’ve lost your job and face foreclosure.
You have a couple of dogs that are like family, but you can hardly afford food for human consumption, much less animals.
What’s a pet owner to do?
Well in metro Atlanta, people can turn to Daffy’s Pet Soup Kitchen, a nonprofit located off Oakland Industrial Court in Lawrenceville. The months-old nonprofit provides food for animals whose owners can’t. The Gwinnett County charity is getting slammed due to the economic malaise. People from hundreds of miles away drive to its 1,600-square-foot warehouse to get a free month’s supply of food for Rover.
“Back in December, we gave away 20,000 pounds of dog and cat food,” said Tom Wargo, founder of the all-volunteer organization. “We got on Channel 11, so we got hit. Right now, we give away 8,000 to 12,000 pounds of dog and cat food a month.”
And there appears to be scant let-up as the year grinds on.
In fact, there’s such a demand for pet soup kitchens and related services that Daffy’s — which already has an Athens location — plans to expand across the metropolis. Daffy’s in College Park, located at 3699 Main St., opens Feb. 28. Other locations are under consideration for various counties and communities, including Marietta and Grant Park.
Wargo says more pantries are needed. He fields calls from across the country from animal lovers who want to start a charity and are interested in its operation.
“For what we do, there will always be a need,” he said while we toured the stock room. “But lately, people are losing their jobs and losing their houses every day. And they have pets. If they couldn’t get food from us, they’d have to turn [the pets] over to animal control or some rescue facility. That doesn’t really fix the problem. Instead of finding them a temporary home, we try to feed the animals at their homes so they can stay there. We’re working to keep families and pets together.”
To get the food, pet owners must adhere to some pantry rules, among them:
- They can only come for food once a month.
*They are required to do five hours community service a month at Daffy’s or some other charity.
- The pets must be spayed or neutered within three months if they haven’t been already. (Daffy’s refers clients to vets who offer medical services at discounted rates).
Rosie Hottum of Dacula sings Daffy’s praises. She lives on a dead-end street where people drop off animals all the time. “I have taken in six cats and had them spayed,” she wrote in an e-mail. “There are always at least 10 in my yard in the mornings, so it gets very expensive. That’s why Daffy’s has been such a blessing to me.”
Now about the name “Daffy.” He’s a mixed Jack Russell terrier that Wargo, who owns a construction company, spotted wandering around a job site a year or so ago. Now he’s the charity mascot.
For more information, call 404-345-6821 or online: www.daffyspetsoupkitchen.com.
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