For people and families in financially tight situations, often it is their pets that provide the most comfort. Unemployment and financial hardships are directly associated with depression and many other serious mental struggles. If the difference between surviving or not through hard times, means having your pets there to calm your anxieties, then we should be doing more to help those individuals and families keep those animals. 

The government pays for animal control services and many cities have implemented catch-and-release programs that even cover the cost of spay/neuter. What if there were just fewer stray animals? One of the leading causes of strays is the inability to continue providing care for an animal - as in, no longer being able to afford food or medical care for loved pets. Animal shelters are over crowded, the streets are running wild with former pets who now pose a risk to the public - aggression, disease, etc. 

I was just able to purchase several tubs of “meal replacement” and “health supplement” powders like protein powder and a vitamin smoothie mix… all using my SNAP EBT money. There are tons of ridiculous things that can be purchased with food stamps, things we don’t NEED to sustain our health. So why are those things eligible when pet foods are not? Is fancy vegan protein powder prioritized above mental health now? Is it more acceptable for low income families to buy double fudge chocolate cakes and junk food than it is for low income families to keep the pets they love and lower the stray animal population at the same time? 

This has got to CHANGE. Please sign this petition if you support mental health, public safety, and logical policies regarding government assistance programs. Sign this petition to prevent depression, to keep house pets off the streets, to give animal shelters more space for emergency situations, and above all else to keep families together - pets included. Please sign and share!