Local organizations teaming up to help pets

May 11—It's not an unusual sight during the COVID-19 pandemic: a 30-foot Skagit Transit bus parked outside a local business to house a food drive.

But Saturday's event at Country Store in Burlington will be different. Several local organizations will be teaming up to host a pet food drive to help animals in need.

"Some pets have been abandoned because people couldn't afford to keep them," said Cheryl Willis of Skagit Transit. "As a community we're trying to help people keep their pets."

Those interested are encouraged to bring canned pet food, dry pet food or dehydrated treats for cats, dogs, birds and fish between 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Dog bones will not be accepted. The recipient of the food drive will be Skagit Animals in Need.

The effort is a partnership between several organizations, including Skagit Transit, Country Store, 4-H and a team from the Leadership Skagit program.

Skagit Leadership member Silvia Reed said the drive is part of a larger effort to build an infrastructure of Skagit Pet Pantries, which will be housed at five local food banks and will be used to facilitate pet food donations to those in need.

She said receptacles will be set up at local grocery stores, and that 4-H will eventually run the program.

"We felt there was a need in the community to serve animals in need, in particular families that can't feed their pets because of COVID and financial hardship," Reed said.

Skagit Animals in Need is a volunteer-driven nonprofit dedicated to helping animals and preventing animal cruelty.

While much of the group's previous efforts focused on larger animals such as horses, it started a program last year to respond to greater need for assistance for smaller pets during the COVID-19 crisis.

— Reporter Trevor Pyle: 360-416-2156, tpyle@skagitpublishing.com, Twitter: @goskagit, Facebook.com/bytrevorpyle