Alberta SPCA helping those in need of pet food

The Alberta SPCA is helping those who need help paying for pet food during the coronavirus pandemic.

In good news from Canada during a dark time in the world, the Alberta SPCA is helping pet owners who need help paying for pet food during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which on a more trivial note in the dog world has either postponed or outright canceled various canine-centric events.

This story was earlier reported by CBC News and came to Dog O’Day’s attention through the Dog Writers Association of America.

The Alberta SPCA recently launched a program straightforwardly called Help for Animals in order to accomplish that mission, which will hopefully prevent owners in dire straits from abandoning their dogs and cats in an effort to cut costs.

“It’s to help people having trouble feeding companion animals or livestock due to illness, self-isolation issues or economic hardship,” Alberta SPCA Communications Manager Don Kobe told CBC News.

Around 700 bags of cat and dog food have been donated by pet food manufacturers Purina and Champion, and hay is available for delivery to hobby farmers if necessary.

The Alberta SPCA covers the entire province outside of the city limits of Calgary and Edmonton, where each city’s respective humane society operates. Outside the city limits of Edmonton, HART Edmonton also operates, as we covered when an Eskimos receiver teamed up with them last fall.

As a province, Alberta has about 255,000 square miles, making it about the size of Texas, and contains a population of about four million people, about the same amount as Connecticut, Oklahoma or Oregon.

Home of the NHL’s Flames and Oilers, it’s the fourth-most populous of Canada’s 10 provinces, and together with Manitoba and Saskatchewan forms the country’s prairie region. Oil is also a significant industry in the province’s economy, particularly in the Grande Prairie area.

For more information about how you can help, call the Alberta SPCA at 1-833-621-7025, the Calgary Humane Society at 403-205-4455 or the Edmonton Humane Society at 780-471-1774, or see their respective websites for details.