For the want of a nail

We are always hungry when we get back from the woods and it really says a lot about what sweet dogs Ruby and Henry both are that neither of them are food aggressive. Even though Henry wasn't as terribly emaciated as Miss Ruby was when she was rescued, at forty pounds he was still much too thin for his size.
They are both the soul of patience when Mcg, who has never missed a meal in eleven years, tries to tiptoe past his old fella weight control stuff to sample their bowls. ( If you've ever shared space with a Scottie, you will know that the 'thrill of the hunt' for someone else's dinner dish/toy/treat is something they simply can't resist)
My heart just goes out to families who are trying to make ends meet these days. It was a bit like winning the lottery a few years ago to become an empty nester .... now its easy to see why the mothers look shell shocked at the cash registers.
It seems everytime that I shop for the few little things that I need, at least half of what's in my cart has crept up in price again.... and I'm really a horrible consumer from the grocery store's perspective because I'm not a one stop shopper. Most of my staples come from our health food store, the vets or the feed store.
The 'free to a good home' ads on Kijiji are full of mature and even senior pets these days and many of the dogs are the larger ( ie cost more to feed) varieties. How many of these people would keep their pets if there was a pet food bank available to them?
At times like these, I can't think of a better way for the pet food companies to rebuild trust with animal lovers than by contributing to a pet food bank. The pet food industry is big money and would be hard pressed to turn down either the free publicity accrued from this or the long term loyalty their participation would earn from the animal loving community.
It should be no surprise that there already are quite a few pet food banks set up south of the border. The really clever ones recognize there is no such thing as a 'free lunch' and so they:

• 'seize the day' and make spay/neuter a condition for participation, with low cost vouchers available.
• "paying it forward". In other words, all participants are required to volunteer for at least five hours a month with the food bank,
• and if all else fails, they offer "owner foster" programs where the food bank provides the food so the the pets can stay with the owner until a new home is found through their local shelter or rescue

What time is it? Its time to remember that we will never get to No Kill Nova Scotia without pulling out all the stops for pet retention. At the end of the day, it wouldn't only be the pet food companies who would garner good will. This is the kind of thing that could build bridges between all the rescue community and more of the province's pet owners.