http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/l ... 55957.html
Pet shelters in need Quote:
ADMIN NOTE: SHELTER AND CONTACT INFO IS BELOW AT BOTTOM
Food supplier on 6-week hiatusBy Janelle Frost -
jfrost@thesunnews.comThe food supply was a needed donation from Blue Cross Blue Shield.
At least one Humane Society in the Grand Strand could struggle to feed its animals because a worldwide distributor of pet food announced it would suspend donations of the food for as many as six weeks.
Quote:
Mars' Masterfoods USA has temporarily stopped providing animal shelters and centers with pet food while the works put in place a new system to more efficiently track its donations, company officials said.
At least 80 to 90 percent of the pet food used at area humane societies comes from the company, according to officials at the local agencies.
"Before, each individual plant gave donations," said Debra Fair, public relations manager at Mars Petcare US. "It was harder to grasp and collect data. We want to centralize the product and monetary donations. It will allow the process to go faster and we will know instantly where donations were given."
During the suspension period, officials from the Grand Strand, North Myrtle Beach and Horry County humane societies say they will rely on what they have on hand, and some already have applied to other pet food providers for donations.
Fair said Mars' Masterfoods officials anticipate resuming donations by the end of March or first part of April.
But she said if any agency comes to them in need of food donations before then, they will help them, she said.
Some area agencies already are in short supply.
"That is something that we can't financially undertake right now," said Cheyenne Rheingold, office manager at the Grand Strand Humane Society. "We are especially in need of puppy food."
Last week, the shelter had six to seven bags of puppy food left that Rheingold said would last for a day or two.
But that shelter recently received about 150 bags of dog and cat food and 50 cases of canned dog food from Blue Cross Blue Shield, said Peter Bine, who was hired two weeks ago as the Grand Strand society's executive director.
Bine said the Blue Cross and Blue Shield donation was "not in reaction to the loss."
Rheingold said the Humane Society has 85 dogs and 107 cats as of Jan. 1. Shelter officials also have applied to Hill's Pet Nutrition for donations. It will take six to eight weeks to process the application, Rheingold said.
Officials at the Horry County and North Myrtle Beach humane societies say they can survive through March with the food they have on hand.
But officials at those agencies said they would have to find other sources if the suspension is still in place then.
"I hope it doesn't [become] a permanent thing," said Rita Rhodes, interim executive director at the Horry County Humane Society. "We've haven't had to buy food for a long time. It would hurt us."
Masterfoods has supplied the Horry County Humane Society with donations once every two months for several years.
The shelter uses roughly 30, 16-pound bags of puppy food, 56 bags of adult dog food, and 21, 6-pound bags of cat food in the average week, Rhodes said.
If the shelter purchased the food, it would cost agency officials between $4,400 and $4,500 a month, Rhodes said.
As of Tuesday, the shelter had at least 125 dogs and 100 cats, she said.
The Humane Society of North Myrtle Beach had around 150 cats and 61 dogs as of Tuesday.
Michelle LoPinto, executive director at the North Myrtle Beach shelter, said the agency would stock up on food from Masterfood's Columbia plant about three times a year.
She said that in December the shelter raised 13 pallets of pet food through a golf tournament fundraiser.
A similar event last year raised seven tons of pet food, she said.
"We're going to be able to live off what we got from the golf tournament," LoPinto said. "We will be good through March. We couldn't get by if we didn't have any donations."
Apparently, there is a site listed on the N.Myrtle Beach Humane Soceity's website, that will match your donation:
Donate bags of dog food and Pedigree will match your donation to area shelters (all three shelters listed). Only $9.99 for a 22lb bag.
http://tinyurl.com/2jz8ea PREVIEW LINK
http://preview.tinyurl.com/2jz8ea
To help local shelters
Horry County Humane Society
2101 Industrial Park Road,
Conway, SC 29526
Phone: 915-5172
Website:
www.horrycountyhumanesociety.com
Grand Strand Humane Society
3241 Mr. Joe White Ave.
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
Phone: 448-9151
Website:
www.grandstrandhumanesociety.com
Humane Society of North Myrtle Beach
409 Bay St., North Myrtle Beach, SC 29582
Phone: 249-4948
Website:
www.humanesocietynmb.org
Contact JANELLE FROST at 443-2404.
