Pantry helps strapped owners keep their pets fed

Sky Estrada, who has been out of work for six months, is burning up a lot of gasoline in unsuccessful job hunts. She fears she might eventually lose her house. But it's her three big dogs, Lulu, Pinkie and Sadie, that she's really worried about.

"My dogs are my kids - the love of my life. I used to be able to buy them treats," she says, tears welling in her eyes. She says she would buy food for them instead of herself.

"I can eat noodles; they need protein."

But then she heard about Pikes Peak Pet Pantry, a new nonprofit organization that aims to keep local animals from going hungry. Estrada recently got 40 pounds of dog food at the pantry.

"This program is a blessing. My kids can eat," she says.

More and more pet owners in these hard economic times are finding themselves in the shoes of the proverbial old Mother Hubbard - finding it difficult to fill their cupboard with bones and kibble.

Darlene McCaslin, who has done cat-rescue work, opened the Pet Pantry in January after realizing just how many animals were becoming victims of the economy. She's distributed more than 3,100 pounds of food but says she has put only a dent in the need.
A few charitable groups sometimes have a bit of animal food available, but Pikes Peak Pet Pantry is thought to be the only local group devoted solely to offering temporary pet-feeding assistance.

"With everything increasing in prices, including pet food, it's apparent that animals aren't getting the food they need," McCaslin said.

When Andrea Gaugler's fiance was laid off from his construction job, they were able to get help from a food pantry. But feeding the family dogs, Rain, Kali and Sugar, twice a day was another story.

The money she receives from working part time is gobbled up by the rising cost of food and gasoline for her commute from Monument to Colorado Springs. She heard about the Pet Pantry when she was getting food for her family at Manna Ministries.

On a recent afternoon at Pikes Peak Pet Pantry she received about 50 pounds of food for her dogs - a bull mastiff and two Labrador retrievers.

"This helps so much. If not for this to help to get us through, I would have had to get rid of the dogs," Gaugler says.

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Contact the writer: 636-0371 or carol.mcgraw@gazette.com