"Although SNAP can't be used for pet food, the food assistance program helps low-income families free up money to purchase kibble. It's also common for owners to supplement or entirely feed their animals human food that was purchased using SNAP, said Stephanie Hicks, executive director for Care for Pets, the Rockford, Illinois, nonprofit that helped Lungwitz and others. Some volunteers walked the grocery aisles with struggling pet owners."
"Sarah Lungwitz has fretted over feeding not just her two teenage daughters with SNAP payments disrupted, but her family's cat and two dogs. Help has arrived for now, she says, after an Illinois nonprofit arranged for volunteers to give her a grocery gift card last week to buy food for herself and her pets."
"The Supreme Court on Friday granted the Trump administration's emergency appeal to temporarily block a court order to fully fund SNAP food aid payments amid the government shutdown, even though residents in more than a half-dozen states already received the funds. The uncertainty is placing a strain on shelters."
SNAP payments have been delayed amid the longest government shutdown, disrupting benefits for low-income households. An Illinois nonprofit provided a grocery gift card to a worker worried about feeding two teenage daughters and three pets. SNAP cannot be used to buy pet food, but the benefit frees up household funds that can be redirected to pet supplies or human food fed to animals. Volunteers have accompanied struggling owners in stores and nonprofits are collecting pet food. Animal welfare groups estimate over 20 million pets live in poverty, and shelters are preparing for potential surges in surrenders.
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