KEEPING PETS WITH THEIR PEOPLE
People by providing support before crisis becomes separation.
Many pets enter shelters not because they are unwanted, but because the people who love them are facing challenges they cannot overcome alone. Financial hardship, food insecurity, limited access to veterinary care, housing instability, and a lack of community resources can turn a temporary setback into a permanent separation.
Animal Farm Foundation’s Shelter Prevention Initiatives are designed to intervene before that happens. Through our Family Pantry Program, Community Care & Mutual Aid initiatives, community pantry pop ups, veterinary partnerships, and other direct-support programs, we work alongside trusted organizations to make essential resources more accessible to pets and the people who care for them.
By addressing the root causes of pet relinquishment and bringing support directly into communities, we can help families navigate difficult moments, reduce unnecessary shelter admissions, and keep more pets where they belong: at home with the people who love them.
16+ Pantries Served
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Over $250,000 of Pet Food Donated
16+ Pantries Served ✳︎ Over $250,000 of Pet Food Donated
THE FAMILY PANTRY PROGRAM
Pet food access is shelter prevention.
Financial hardship should never determine whether a family can keep the pet they love. Animal Farm Foundation’s Family Pantry Program is a national shelter prevention initiative that expands access to free pet food by bringing it into the places families already turn to for support.
Rather than creating standalone pet food distribution sites, we partner with human food pantries, community organizations, shelters, rescues, social service providers, and mutual aid networks to integrate pet food into established assistance programs.
This approach strengthens existing community networks while making support easier to access. Families can find food for themselves and their pets through trusted organizations already serving their neighborhoods—reducing barriers and recognizing an important truth:
A GROWING NATIONAL NETWORK
Since launching the Family Pantry Program, Animal Farm Foundation has donated more than $250,000 in pet foodwhile building a growing network of pantry and community partners across the country.
Through partnerships with food pantries, shelters, rescues, community organizations, and service providers, donated food and supplies reach families who might otherwise struggle to meet their pets’ basic needs.
For someone navigating job loss, rising costs, an unexpected expense, or another period of financial instability, something as simple as access to pet food can make an enormous difference.It can provide the breathing room a family needs to get through a difficult moment without losing a beloved member of their family. When families have the resources to care for their pets, we remove one more pathway into the shelter system.
MORE THAN Just A PANTRY
Meeting families where they are—and connecting them with what they need. Food insecurity rarely exists in isolation. Families struggling to afford pet food may also be navigating veterinary costs, housing instability, transportation challenges, or limited access to affordable pet care.
That’s why our work extends beyond food.
Through the Family Pantry Program and our broader Community Care & Mutual Aid initiatives, pantry events can connect families with a wider network of support, including free pet food and essential supplies, vaccinations, wellness services, spay/neuter resources, affordable veterinary care, and community-based services.
By bringing resources together and working alongside organizations families already know and trust, we make it easier for people to find support before a temporary challenge becomes a crisis. The goal is not simply to respond to hardship. It is to intervene early enough that surrender never becomes the only option.
COMMUNITY CARE & MUTUAL AID
Effective shelter prevention starts in the community.
Our Community Care & Mutual Aid initiatives bring practical resources directly to people facing the challenges that can put the human-animal bond at risk. We work alongside community organizations, policymakers, social service providers, veterinary partners, shelters, and rescues to create stronger networks of support for pets and the people who love them.
By addressing financial hardship, food insecurity, access to veterinary care, housing instability, and other barriers, we can help families find solutions earlier—before a difficult situation results in surrender.
This work is rooted in partnership. Rather than assuming what a community needs, we collaborate with organizations already doing trusted work on the ground to connect families with resources in ways that are accessible, practical, and responsive to local needs.
Community support is shelter prevention.
COMMUNITY PANTRY POP UPS
Bringing essential resources directly into neighborhoods.
Our community pantry pop ups bring free pet food, supplies, services, and connections directly into the communities where they are needed most.
In the Bronx, our events regularly serve 500+ households at a time, providing families with pet food, leashes, collars, harnesses, crates, toys, enrichment items, and other essentials that help them continue caring for their pets during periods of financial hardship.
But these events are about much more than distribution.
By working alongside trusted local organizations, our pop ups create opportunities to connect families with ongoing community resources, veterinary services, social services, and other forms of support that extend beyond the day of the event.
They also allow us to build relationships, better understand the challenges families are facing, and connect people with resources before those challenges become emergencies.
A bag of food can meet an immediate need. The right connection can help keep a family together for the future.
JOIN OUR PANTRY NETWORK
Help us get pet food and supplies where they can make the greatest difference.
Animal Farm Foundation partners with rescues, human food pantries, mutual aid organizations, and community-based nonprofits to distribute donated pet food and supplies to animals and families in need.
Organizations accepted into our pantry network may have opportunities to receive donated pet food and supplies as inventory becomes available.
APPLY TO BECOME A PANTRY PARTNER
WANT TO CREATE A FAMILY FOOD PANTRY IN YOUR AREA?
NEED ASSISTANCE?
PANTRY PARTNERS
Click A Food Pantry Name To Find Out More Information
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444 E Washington Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91104
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CALIFORNIA
CONNECTICUT
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3023 East Church St, Pine Plains, NY 12567
(518) 398-7692
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NEW YORK
RHODE ISLAND
TEXAS
GEORGIA
MINNESOTA
ILLINOIS
NEW JERSEY
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
One of their clients actually cried when she saw the food pantry had pet food. It was then that she realized she could keep her dog.
— Dutchess Outreach, POUGHKEEPSIE, NY
Another client suffered from depression. Her doctor actually told her to adopt a dog but she wasn't sure she could afford a dog. She would come to the pantry usually very down and sad. Then she saw that the food pantry carried dog food. When she saw that she knew she could afford a dog and she adopted a dog. Now, she brings the dog with her to the food pantry to get her food and the dog's food.
— Dutchess Outreach, POUGHKEEPSIE, NY
I know I say it often, but please know what a blessing this is for our family members at the pantry. Thank you.
— Willow Roots, PINE PLAINS, NY
Make an Impact Today
Together with our local pantries, we are fostering a compassionate and inclusive approach to providing essential resources, breaking down barriers, and ensuring that no one faces the heart-wrenching choice between nourishing themselves or their beloved pets.
Your support, whether big or small, has the power to create ripples of change in the lives of those in need. Your generous donations will directly impact the lives of countless families.