Hunger in the Shadow of Pets – When America’s Poorest Can No Longer Feed Themselves or Their Animals

There may currently be occasional delays in our reporting - we are also actively involved in supporting relief efforts for people and animals in need. We therefore ask for understanding for possible delays and thank everyone who is helping to alleviate hardship during these difficult days. Sadly, these are the quiet catastrophes of a country that has long grown accustomed to its crises.

In New Orleans, the animal shelter Zeus’ Rescues is trying to make the impossible possible. As the longest government shutdown in U.S. history leaves millions without their usual assistance, the organization ensures that even their pets do not go hungry. Volunteers distribute donated food to families who barely have enough for themselves - a quiet but vital act of help for those who, despite their own hardship, refuse to give up their animals. Helpers at Zeus’ Rescues fill sacks with dry food, stack cans, count donations. Not for themselves, but for those who have nothing left - people fighting harder each day for the essentials: bread, milk, rice - and food for their animals.

Many people stand on a rainy October morning in Loves Park, Illinois, outside a small church. In their hands a voucher given by a nonprofit that allows them to buy groceries - for themselves, their children, and their animals, which have long since become part of the family. Without this voucher, they might have had to give up their pets. Many of them work directly or indirectly for Amazon. For the local economy, the company has become a central factor - with shift work and low wages. In Dallas, at this very moment, more than 75 dogs are available for adoption in Klyde Warren Park - loyal companions of people who can no longer care for them. There are food trucks, music, prizes, and pet food vouchers. But no one looks happy, inspired by the music. They are simply sad.

For weeks, payments from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, have been delayed. Millions of Americans are waiting in vain for their monthly benefits while Washington remains paralyzed by the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. The Supreme Court has granted Trump’s emergency request to temporarily halt full payments - a decision already felt in more than half a dozen states. With it, a fragile balance collapses: most recipients cannot use their SNAP benefits for pet food - that is prohibited - but the little money left over was at least not further diminished. Now, with even this aid stalled, many must choose between feeding themselves or their animals.

“We know that many people feed their pets before they eat themselves,” says Kim Buckman of Feeding Missouri, a coalition of food banks. “Some of these animals are more than companions - they are emotional support, family members, sometimes the only reason to get up in the morning.”

In Lebanon, Tennessee, the New Leash on Life shelter saw the number of families needing food donations rise from one hundred to one hundred twenty-five in October. Director Angela Chapman shakes her head. “We’d rather help them with food than have to take in their pets later.” Supplies are scarce, demand is exploding. Shelves filled with bags of food are emptied within days.

The situation is also dire in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Companion Animal Alliance shelter had to shut down a support program for around two hundred families after a major donor withdrew. “We’re considering cutting funds from medical care to buy food,” says Paula Shaw, the shelter’s director of access to care. “People are panicking. Many share their own food with their pets, others ask us which human foods they can mix in to make the pet food last longer.” Some are trying to help as best they can. In Massachusetts, a small organization called Charley’s Angles raised donations within days through Venmo after posting a plea on Facebook. “We expect, at least in the short term, a real surge in demand,” says founder Kandi Finch, a groomer who named her project after a beloved pet.

In Las Vegas, the Animal Foundation is responding to the growing hardship of pet owners with an unusual initiative - an emergency pet food distribution. On Monday, November 10, the organization will open its doors from noon to 3 p.m. on Mojave Road to help families who can barely afford to feed their pets. Each household can receive food for up to four animals - free of charge, while supplies last. The background is the nationwide delay of SNAP benefits, which forces low-income families to divide what little they have between themselves and their animals. The initiative is part of the “Keeping Every Pet and Person Together” program - an attempt to prevent what would otherwise inevitably follow: that hardship leads to separation.

Yet even these spontaneous efforts do not change the underlying crisis: American poverty affects not only people. According to estimates from Humane World for Animals, more than twenty million pets live in households below the poverty line. When the refrigerator is empty, the animals suffer first. “An increase in surrenders is always a concern when so many people suddenly fall on hard times,” says spokesperson Kirsten Peek. For now, shelters are not yet overwhelmed - but many staff members know that this point is drawing closer.

For many, giving up is not an option. But the money is barely enough. Many fight every day, but cannot give up. This is America in 2025 - a country that may soon force its poorest citizens to choose between bread and their pets.